Rhapsody of Crows
by Aravichs
Summary: "How do you plan on surviving Suzuran if you can't fight?" A shrug was all he received. "I'm pretty good at escaping."
1. Chapter 1

Hi, I'm a newbie in FFnet who's looking to try my hand at writing and also to improve my English as it's not my first language. So I really hope that you guys will give this story a try and guide me on ways to better improve my language skills and story writing skills.

I guess this story's character might be a Mary Sue, because from what I've read around, Mary sues are original characters? So yeah, as a precaution, I'm issuing a Mary Sue warning first.

Well then, onwards and thank you very much for your help.

* * *

The alarm clock rang shrilly and a pale hand smacked it hard, silencing the irritating thing forever. With a loud sigh, the large mountain of blankets and pillows move and tumbled about, finally revealing a tousled head.

With another loud yawn, the slender lithe body half dropped half clambered off the bed into the bathroom.

_Hoodie - Check. Scarf - check. School uniform - Check. Glasses - Check._

Alright. Time to go.

* * *

For 8am in the morning, the street was surprisingly deserted. She hurried, alternating between the map in her hands and the road.

"You got to be kidding me." She spoke out loud in English as she stared up at her destination. A dilapidated building covered in vandalism stood forlornly in front of her. Even the gates, with barbed wire winding around the top of the gate, radiated an aura of abuse.

For a moment, she wondered if she had gone into a wrong place. But that's not right. The signboard stated, "Suzuran Boys High School". She was in the right place, no doubt about it.

"As expected of the worst high school in Japan," She murmured underneath her breath. She hadn't expected a really lovely school, based on what she heard about this place. But she wasn't expecting it to be _this_ bad. For a moment, she had her misgivings. Would it be worth it if she got killed here?

She shook her head vigorously. Blinking rapidly behind tinted glasses, she swallowed and proceeded onwards into the school.

The insides of the school were no better than the outside. She sat stiffly in a worn out hall next to a boy vigorously digging his nose, eyes straight forward looking at the Principal giving the welcome speech. He seemed apprehensive and she could forgive him for that. It was a well known fact that the country's worst troublemakers went to Suzuran. Any student here was probably capable of being the top badass at other schools. Now, majority - the minority being good students like her. How did they end up here, anyway - of the freshmen are getting bored and restless. That spelled trouble.

Sighing, she turned away to look to her other side, where a young male with a facemask was sitting, calmly reading a book. Her mouth twitched upwards slightly as she caught sight of the familiar content. Without meaning to, she leant leftwards to take a closer look at the book, not even noticing the way the owner of the book glance at her and waited patiently while she finished reading.

"Done?"

She started a little when she heard his muffled voice.

"Sorry." She apologised politely. Best not to get on anyone's bad side. This guy looked like he could throw a mean punch or three, despite his book worm symptoms.

He merely shrugged. "Didn't think anyone else would be able to read here."

At her questioning glance, he elaborated. "This is Suzuran, known for fighters, gangsters and idiots, not students. You look like someone smart."

_Ah…_

"You mean I look like I can't fight." She said. Her lips curled into a self-deprecating smile behind the scarf.

Even beneath his mask, she could see his eyes crinkle in embarrassment.

"I get that all the time." She answered dryly and gave a theatrical shrug. "I'm used to it."

"So you really can't fight?" a voice interrupted. Sora turned to look at Honjo's other side, where a young man with sharp eyes and spiky hair was sitting, looking at her suspiciously. On his other side, a tall guy with long pigtails sat solemnly. _Pig tails? What kind of guy wears pigtails? _"How are you going to survive Suzuran?"

"I'm pretty good at escaping." She deadpanned.

A muffled chuckle from he-who-wears-a-face-mask. "Honjo. Honjo Toshiaki."

"Kirishima Hiromi." That was Spiky hair, and Pig Tails was... "Sugihara Makoto..."

She gave a polite nod. "Asamori Sora. Nice to meet you."

"Next, a few words from our freshmen representative." Their conversation was disrupted by the principal who gratefully gave the stage to a young round-faced fellow freshman. A pathetic smattering of clapping could be heard from the school teachers.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's a student here." She murmured. She pushed her glasses further up her nose and tugged at the scarf around her neck. She was so warm here. But what can she do? It's not like she can afford to remove her coat.

"How long will this take?" She asked Honjo. He was saved from answering as a bald freshman with squinty eyes stalked up the stage and proceed to kick his terrified school mate off.

"Yo listen up!"

That seemed to be the unofficial signal to get up and get ready for a fight as everyone leapt up.

"Stupid idiot!" Kirishima snorted as they listened to the fresh man giving his version of a ceremonial speech. "Another one who thinks he can rule this school. Look at him being all cocky and arrogant!"

She refrained from pointing out that Kirishima himself had the same thinking.

A smirk twisted Kirishima's pretty boy features. "YOU'RE FULL OF IT! SQUID HEAD!"

"WHO'S A SQUID HEAD?" Mr. 'Squid head' roared. Bursts of laughter rang out and belatedly, Sora realised she was one of those, grinning away.

_Seriously, for THE gangster school in Japan, this is fast becoming a comedy_.

Kirishima merely stood up smugly, walking to the middle of the hall. "You are."

And that's when chaos erupted_._

True to her own words, Sora managed to get out of the massive fist fights, landing herself in a corner with 2 other teachers hiding out. Tables, chairs, fists and knees flew freely everywhere, and twice, Sora has to dive out of wayward trajectiles.

Silently, she slipped out of the grand hall, the peace outside a stark contrast to the deafening battle going on inside. Briefly, she wondered if she should go in and help Honjo, Sugihara and Kirishima.

_On second thoughts, nah... They're obviously confident enough to take on the whole level, judging by the way Kirishima purposely pissed off the Squid head... They don't need my... _

"Oof!" She slammed into a wall and fell backwards.

"What the fuck?" She heard the wall curse.

So she hadn't hit a wall, she had hit someone. Oops. She hurriedly stood up. Her body tensed when she eyed the quartet in front of her. Most likely she can choose to either fight or run.

_Most likely, run_.

"First year freshman, huh?" the leader – the biggest and fattest of the lot – growled. "Watch where Ya going, bastard!"

"Uh… Sorry about that?" She began. "Though I'll gotta tell you I'm in the third year, and not the first."

That seemed to piss him off. "What was that?" he snarled. "ya think I'm stupid, huh? HUH?"

_Uh Oh… Me and my big mouth…_

"Ya need to be taught a lesson to respect your elders…" The leader snarled. "Get'im!"

She needed no more reason to turn around and dive straight back towards the hall. Between the fighting in the grand hall and this bunch of guys, she'll choose the grand hall.

_At least I can lose them there… That, and I can probably get help from my 'new found friends', in the worst case scenario_… _SHIT…!_

Letting out a string of profanities, she turned and quickly ran in another direction, away from the quartet behind her and away from the trio that was currently charging _towards_ her, making her initial decision to go back to the hall unfeasible.

Behind her, the two small groups combined into a miniature mob, chasing after her in the school corridor. In front of her, lone students ran out of her way when they spied the group descending upon them.

"Get back here and fight like a man!" She heard the leader snarl.

_Lucky I'm not a man, eh…_

In an attempt to buy time, she dumped cupboards, chairs and tables behind her to slow the gang down. It worked, as the group had to manoeuvre over the mess. She tore up the stairs and turned into another school corridor, nearly smashing headlong into another student.

He was very tall and lean, with a severely handsome face and a strange hairstyle that resembled a Mohawk combed back. His pants rode low and were accentuated with a white belt and chain.

She recognised him - Takiya Genji - fellow Transfer-student-in-arm and (if she would have it) current hero to the rescue. She saw him at the administration office just this morning, before the entrance ceremony, when they both came to enrol.

"You got to help hide me!" she hissed. He blinked and looked around him.

"Where?" he asked.

Sora slapped her head in exasperation... _Forget I said anything..._

"Just don't let anyone know you've seen me!" Sora said as she barrelled into a rusty janitors' cupboard, and slammed the door shut, just in time as the group of 7 came running into the school corridor after that.

"Where did that asshole go?" She heard one yell out amidst the crowd of voices.

"Hey, You! You saw a shortie run by?"

"No… He ran the other way…" She could hear Takiya's voice, bored and uninterested. There was a loud bump on the cupboard door and cigarette smoke wafted in from the outside. Sora wrinkled her nose.

"Come on! Let's go!"

Loud footsteps thundered and then there was blissful silence. Soon after, the cupboard door opened creakily.

"You can come out now." Takiya said.

"Thank you for your help." Sora said sheepishly, climbing out of the dirty cupboard.

Takiya merely grunted and turned away.

"Hey! Takiya Genji-san," Sora called out, jogging to catch up with his long strides. He turned and looked down at her, barely reaching his chin. Yep, she was that short. "I owe you one for that. If you need any help, give me a call. I'm Asamori Sora."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Honjo's and SUgihara's nicknames are real.

Disclaimer: I' don't owe any of the characters except for Solange Summers and Asamori Sora.

* * *

Thankfully, the freshmen war in the hall was waning by the time she returned. By now, the teachers had made a smart choice and were nowhere to be seen. Deciding it would be the best to follow in their footsteps, she turned to sneak out, not wanting to get caught in the ongoing battle.

"Where you think you're going, bastard?"

She ducked and a fist landed where her head has been. "Er... Out?"

She eyed the scruffy boy in front of her. His only answer was a challenging roar as he threw himself at her.

Only to be met midway with a chair.

"Where did you go?" Honjo demanded as he punched another fellow. "You missed a lot."

"The toilet?" She sidestepped an unconscious freshman. "What did I miss?"

"Someone got arrested; Squid head chickened out, and majority of this fight."

Sora didn't respond, being too busy dodging the various furniture and humans thrown her way. "Whoa! Hey! Watch where you dump those guys!"

"You have no right to demand when you cannot fight."

Sora sighed. No other choice then, she can't keep letting Honjo defend her. He's hard pressed enough to hold his own as it is. She grabbed a fist that was flying towards her and easily twisted the arm in a classic aikido move, throwing the guy away from her.

"I thought you said you can't fight." Honjo sounded outraged.

"I never said that." She defended herself, as she stood back to back with Honjo. "I merely said I'm good at pulling a Houdini, that's all."

"A what?"

"Never mind."

She wasn't aware how long she had fought. A few times, she had been hit but nothing serious. She was beginning to understand why Suzuran delinquents loved fighting. The adrenaline rush was exciting, and the exhaustion and breathlessness satisfying.

"Yosh! That's the last one!" Kirishima said, satisfaction evident in his voice. "Now, we own the first years!"

Sora didn't bother answering to that. She sat down hard on the floor, one arm clutching her chest as she struggled to get oxygen back into the lungs. The "man-vest" she was wearing, while perfect for streamlining her body into a male physique, made it hard and painful for her to breathe.

"Thought you said you can't fight?" Kirishima's voice was demanding even as a hand was held in front of her eyes. She took it and pulled herself up.

"I never... said... that." She panted. "I merely said I'm good at escaping, that's all."

_Reminds me why I'm not fighting. While the adrenaline rush is awesome, the difficulty to breathe is not worth it. The risk of discovery is even less so. _

"I really can't fight for a long period of time."

"I can see that..." Kirishima drawled out with one eyebrow raised. "You really need to train your stamina."

"Pretty Impressive." The smooth voice had Kirishima whirling around, fast as lightning, and Sora to straighten up immediately. A broad-shouldered guy – obviously a third year – strolled in confidently. He was handsome, in a roguish way, with his dyed blonde hair spiked up, and his jacket sleeves were pulled up, revealing his elbows and hands. "As your junior high alum, and upperclassman, you do me proud."

He could have passed off as a normal gang leader who relied more on his fists but there was intelligence in those dark eyes that made Sora instantly wary. Brawn and brains together are _not_ to be trifled with.

"Don't flatter yourself, Izaki-san." There was defiance in Kirishima's voice as he strolled forward to meet Izaki. Likewise, Sora followed cautiously, stopping just behind Honjo and Kirishima. "We're ready to take you on too."

"Hiromi, do you know who're talking to?" Honjo asked. Sora frowned when she detected a hint of fear in his voice.

"I'm with Hiromi on this one. Age makes no difference in Suzuran." It was Sugihara who said this. Had the situation not be so tense, Sora would have probably gaped at Sugihara. It was the first time since their meeting that he had voluntarily joined in a conversation.

Izaki swaggered towards Kirishima. Suddenly, he grabbed him by his collar, His smirk sliding off like water off a glass surface. Dark eyes glared at Kirishima in a promise of retribution. "Come see me anytime." He said quietly. He looked at Sugihara. "And you, get a haircut first."

With that, he let go of Kirishima, staring at each of them as if to mark them in his memory. For a moment, their eyes met and Sora detected a slight narrowing of his eyes. And then, he turned and left, footsteps loud in the now silent hall. The moment his footsteps faded, Kirishima let out a long slow hiss of breath, breaking the tense silence. And Sora knew, in that instant, that Kirishima was afraid. In a way, that disturbed Sora. Anyone who could scare daredevil Kirishima is someone to be reckoned with.

"Even he can't take on the third years..." Kirishima commented.

"Compeition is stiff here." Sugihara remarked.

"Don't really mean to interrupt..." Sora hesitated. "But who was that and what's going on?"

"That's Izaki Shun - Leader of class 3D. He used to be from our junior high school – Ebizuka junior high." Honjo answered. "As for why he's here, Well, recruitment."

_That would make sense. Izaki waited until the fight is over to see who is still left standing. And then he swoops in and tries to recruit us in an effort to increase his own power in Suzuran. Jeez, this is looking more and more like a multi-pronged war._

"So he's aiming to recruit those of us left standing to bolster his strength against the rest of the third years? Because those few of us left standing should be the strongest of the freshmen."

"Yeah... That's about it..." Krishima let out a harsh cough.

"Smart guy..." Sora remarked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"As expected of Izaki-san." Sugihara's voice was, as usual, neutral.

Kirishima frowned at him. ""Aren't you giving him too much credit, Mako?"

"What?" Sora blanched visibly, the seriousness of the atmosphere breaking with that. "Mako?"

"Yeah, that's his nickname. We've been calling him that since elementary school..."

"Your nickname is Mako? Seriously?" Sora couldn't help gaping.

_Isn't that, like, a girl's name?_

"Is there a problem?" She couldn't see Sugihara's eyes behind his sunglasses but his face was granite neutral.

"Er... No... No problem..." Sora rubbed a hand over mouth, hiding her smile. "So, er... You mind me calling you Mako too?"

"You can call Honjo Pon too. That's his nickname."

"Oy!"

* * *

When she finally got back home that day, she flopped down onto her black sofa in exhaustion.

"Damn..." she moaned when her sore body came into contact with the sofa. Sighing, she shifted into a sitting position andremoved her layers of clothes down to her undergarments, revealing the numerous bruises littering her arms and legs. "That's more injuries than I ever had in my life."

Her cell phone chose that moment to ring, and she frown questioningly. Only the Ebizuka Trio – Kirishima, Mako and Pon – had her cellphone number as of now. Oh, and Genji-san. But it couldn't be them who called, could it? It's only the first day of school, for Christ's sake!

"Hello?" She answered in Japanese.

"Hello?" A female voice asked in English. Sora smiled as she realised who was on the line. Solange Summers was her parents' lawyer and her mum's best friend. Now, she had become Sora's advisor and close confidante.

"Hey, Solange, wasn't expecting you to call so fast. No bad news, I hope?" Sora switched to speaking English, making her way to her kitchen.

"Hey, girl. Well, there's a piece of good news and a piece of bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

She took out a tub of salad from her fridge and slammed the door shut. "Good news."

"The court has approved for your application to be a legally emancipated adult. Aren't you happy not to go into foster care?"

"Sure I am... Now, the bad news?"

"You don't sound too happy at all. The bad news is, in accordance to your parents' will, all their assets will be held in trust until you reach 21, and the Probate Court appointed me as the Trustee. The payout's not a lot, for a rich pampered brat like you."

"That's not a bad news!" Sora sandwiched her cell phone between her shoulder and her ear as she dug into chicken salad. "I'm not pampered, damn it! I can do without the luxuries."

"Oh if _you _say so..."

Sora could hear the skepticism in Solange's voice. She scowled at that. "The payouts don't really matter. I have enough savings to live on."

"You're only sixteen... Why wouldn't you let me adopt you? It's the least I could do for your parents."

Sora grimaced. "We've been through this before, Celeste... I'm not going to go into this again."

A sigh. "Alright... But are you living well there in Japan?"

"I'm good... I managed to get into Suzuran... You sure Mum mentioned it's Suzuran?"

"It's the only thing about her past your mum has ever told me, so of course I'm sure... Why?"

Sora hesitated. How was she going to tell her about Suzuran and its warring factions? scratch that, how was she going to tell her she cross-dressed as a guy to get in? It's not something one can easily break to an adult. Her need to confide in someone warred with logic. In the end, need won out. "Suzuran is a boys' school. I managed to sneak in by masquerading as a guy."

"You masqueraded...! I'm flying over..."

"Woman, listen!" Sora exploded, releasing all the pent up emotions from the hectic day. There was silence on the other line, which Sora interpreted as a signal to continue. She sighed and sagged against the counter top in her kitchen, her salad forgotten. "Sorry, I got carried away."

"... It's OK..." Solange was cautious as she answered. "You were saying...?"

"Suzuran's not just a boys' school, it's a school for the delinquents – the most infamous one, in fact. You and I both agreed this school must have been significant to mum. Otherwise, she won't have mentioned this school to you." Sora was aware she was ranting but she couldn't stop. "So how on earth did mum ever get to know this school so well? It's a gangster school, and her nature... Well, she's definitely not delinquent material... "

There was silence for a long time. "I don't know, girl... I really wanna know why your mum never mentions anything else at all about her past too. But is it really that important to you to find out?"

"Mum and dad were fighting about something before they died." Sora said quietly, eyes darkening to a stormy blue. "It has to do with her past. I have to find out. I have to know."

"You really are as stubborn as your mother. Are you really sure you don't need me to come over? It's a pretty dangerous game you're playing."

"I can handle this. _Trust me_." She wished she could be as confident as she sounded. But she's not going to have Solange risk her job to come over. She'd helped out enough

"All right, then." There was a loud knock and muffled conversation on the other side. "Hey,I got a meeting. I'll call you back some other time? Take care of yourself, alright? Call me if you need me?" Thankfully, it was Solange who had to break the connection first.

"Alright, bye."

"Promise!"

"Yeah, yeah, I promise. Bye!"

She snapped her cell phone shut and left it on the counter top, near a framed photo of an older woman with a younger girl. With the exception of the eyes which are a grey-blue in colour, the younger girl would have been an exact replica of the older woman. Both of them were smiling happily, hugging each other as they faced the camera.

"Seriously, mum, what do you have to hide?" Sora couldn't help but wonder aloud as she stared at the photo.


	3. Chapter 3

Chp 3

Day number two arrived and already, she wasn't in a mood to go to school. But in the end, go to school she did. After being held up by the morning traffic jam in the Tokyo Underground, she knew it was going to be a bad day.

_Next time, I'm going to take the taxi, never mind the exorbitant charges. _

"There the fuck you are!" A loud voice roared as a sluggish Sora slunk down into the school compound. Sora slammed her forehead with her hand. Damn her sixth sense. It never failed to be right.

She sighed and turned around, plastering a fake smile on her face, not that the thugs will be able to see it, thanks to her scarf. They were the same thugs as yesterday. "Good morning. Er... Can I help you with anything?"

She really wasn't in the mood...

"Yeah, you can help us by going to hell for leading us on a blind chase yesterday!" The leader – Pig face, she called him – threw a punch.

She wasn't so stupid to stay around and receive it, and it's not _her_ fault they were so stupid and lost her so easily.

"It's too damn early for this!" She groaned as she once again tore through the school in her effort to outrun them. Seriously, can't they wait for the lunch break before going after her?

_Apparently not_...

"Look!" She yelled as she ran through a school corridor, ignoring the number of curious heads popping out from the class rooms. "Can't we discuss this _peacefully_ like normal human beings?"

She really didn't want to fight. She was still sore from yesterday.

"We can discuss this over our fists!" Pig face roared.

Left with no choice, she leapt out a broken window, thanking the gods for her agility and training as she rolled to her feet. Those chasing after her tried to climb out the window but they weren't fast enough, and that bought her some time to deal with them.

The first few who made through the window lunged at her. She grabbed the arm of thug # 1 and twisted underneath. He flew over her and landed on his friend, easily knocking the wind out of both of them. Sora didn't have time to gloat. She dodged a punch, grabbed the arm of another guy and threw him over her shoulder. She kicked a third in the guts and threw a fourth.

Within moments, there was a heap of groaning males sprawled on the floor. Sora herself was panting, not so much from the fight as from the marathon through the school. Now that the adrenaline rush was over, her muscles ached even more, reminding her once again of her bad choice to fight. The moment she got her breath back, Sora straightened herself and hurried away from the courtyard. She was not waiting around for round 2, thank you very much!

"At last I've found you, you worthless scum." For a moment, she winced. Were they back again? So fast? Why are they being so persistent for?

Then she realised those words weren't directed at her. Rather, it was directed at Takiya Genji.

By a short, slightly plump man. She probably shouldn't say he's short as he's around her height. He was wearing a white coat, white slacks and matching white shirt with black print.

"Let me show you what happens when you mess with yakuza." The man continued as he threw a baseball bat over one shoulder and then another over the other shoulder as he approached Genji.

Somehow, it would be him who's in trouble instead of Genji. She just knew it.

The smaller man stared up into the younger's face. "You're dead, Serizawa."

_Serizawa? Isn't his name Takiya Genji?_

Genji blinked in confusion. "Me? I'm not."

But the yakuza wasn't backing down. "Don't give me that!"

He threw a wild punch, just as Sora let out a gagged warning. In a split second, Genji ducked and punched the man straight into the gut. The yakuza winced and crumbled slowly to the ground, groaning painfully.

"Hey, you all right?" She heard Genji ask the man as she approached the duo.

"He really isn't Serizawa." Sora said as she bent down to help the man up. "His name is Takiya Genji."

"I really got the wrong person?" The man said. "Damn."

With that, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fainted. As one, Genji and Sora looked at each other.

"Now what do we do?"

* * *

They made the decision to bring the Yakuza to a bar that Genji frequented, run by a man called Ushiyama. It had been easy to wake the man up - ice cold water work wonders. The man had woken up, spluttering and indignant.

The man – Ken is his name - agreed to help Genji take over Suzuran. Within _seconds_ of their interaction, Sora officially branded that man a liar. His words and actions don't match. Obviously, he's bragging and most importantly, he's a Yakuza. Doesn't he have better things to do than to help a high school _student_ take over a _school_?

Genji refused to believe her, to her exasperation. Maybe it's true that only fists and stones can get through that thick head of his.

However, against all odds, Ken-san's over-dramatic ploy worked. Genji managed to gain control over class 3E. And so, Sora shoved whatever scepticism she had regarding Ken-san's intentions to the back of her mind. He deserved the benefit of the doubt.

Now, sitting with the guys in a small quaint coffee house, Sora listened to Tamura Chuta go through the background of Suzuran. And based on Chuta's description of the power structure in Suzuran, It is easy to deduce that the man she had helped just now was Tatsukawa Tokio and therefore, the man whom she had seen before that was Serizawa Tamao, leader of the Serizawa Faction.

_She hurried up to the rooftop – the last place she had been. _

"_Where is it? Where, where, where, where, where?" She chanted softly as she searched the grounds near the exit. She got to hurry up. Genji and Chuta are still waiting for her. "Got it!" _

_She grabbed her cell phone from a dark corner and shoved it into her pocket. Footsteps shuffled behind her and she whirled around, to come face to face with a typical Japanese yankee. _

_She froze, staring at the brown haired yankee. His long dark hair was swept back from his face and he had the beginnings of a goatee. He was a few centimetres taller than her but he made up for his average height with a more powerful built. Despite his short height, he has a very dominating presence. Sora recognised a fighter when she saw one. This man standing in front of her contained raw power - loads of it._

_The yankee was glaring at her broodingly. "What are you doing up here?"_

"_Oh." Sora found her voice. "I dropped my cell phone and came back to find it."_

"_Che." The man g__lared at her before moving away, and Sora relaxed. She hadn't been aware that she had tensed up so badly. W__hat was he doing up here at this late hour, anyway?_

_Feeling curious, Sora walked over past the small roof shack, where the man had came from. As she turned past the rooftop exit, she saw a tall strapping young man squatting down onto the floor, clutching his head in agony._

_"Hey!" She hurriedly helped the man up onto the small ventilator. "Are you alright?"_

_He continued to hold his head, too much in pain to even acknowledge her presence. Sora pressed a hand to his forehead before drawing it back, pursing her lips as she hesitated slightly. She hovered nervously around him. "I...I'll get your friend."_

_She moved to leave and his hand lashed out, one hand grabbing her upper arm in a vice-like grip. She winced slightly. For a person in pain, he sure has a strong grip._

_"Don't tell Tamao!" The man cried out harshly._

_Grimacing at the pain in her upper arm, Sora bend down slightly. "But in your condition..."_

_"NO! Don't you dare tell him!" He said, snarling. He groaned again in pain, the other hand clutching his head._

"_Alright, alright... As you wish..." Sora said soothingly. The guy still has yet to let go of her. Not knowing what else to do, she knelt down and rubbed him on his shoulder in a soothing manner. _

_She was completely unprepared for what happened next. The man collapsed heavily against her, so hard that she nearly fall backwards. His head leant against her shoulder, and his breath came out in short sharp bursts. She moved slightly to accommodate his weight and to prevent him from feeling certain... important parts. _

_After a while, his breathing regulated and his grip on her hand loosened. _

_"Are you feeling better?" Sora asked. It was getting awkward. Theoretically, he's the only guy but since she's here as a guy, it would seem gay-ish for both of them to be in this position. And since he's not moving away, she better make the first move. Her words seem to jerk him back to reality and he move away from her. His previous anguished expression had smoothened into one of relief and exhaustion._

_"Y..yeah." he croaked. Sweat glistened on his brow. Seeing he was ok enough to answer her, she moved back, away from him._

_"You don't look OK." She pointed out. She reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of water. "Here." _

_He hesitated and then took the bottle, drinking thirstily. _

_"I'm really fine now. Thank you." He gave a crooked smile. "I haven't seen you around before." He said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "What's your name?"_

_"Asamori Sora." She answered. "I'm new here."_

_"I see." Tokio said, dark eyes lit warmly. "Pleased to meet you, then. Sora. I'm Tatsukawa Tokio."_

_"What was all that about?" She asked cautiously._

_His eyes darken slightly and he looked away from her. "Nothing."_

_Nothing? Nothing wouldn't have him falling and clutching his head like that. But oh well, it wasn't any of her business to pry._

_"If you say so..." Sora answered, tucking her hands in her pockets. _

_"Yeah... "_

"_Well, since you're sure you're all right, then I'll be going now." Sora shifted back onto her heels and stood up. "Guess I'll see you around."_

_Tokio nodded lightly before his smile faded. "Hey, uh... Don't tell anyone about what happened, alright? Promise?"_

_His dark brown eyes besceeched her._

_"Who am I going to tell?" Sora asked dryly. _

Oh... The irony of her words back then... If only she had known earlier that _the_ Tatsukawa Tokio she met is the right hand man of Serizawa Tamao, she probably wouldn't have been so quick to agree to keep his secret for him.

_And what was that about Tatsukawa just now? _Sora wondered briefly.

He must have an illness, it wasn't hard to deduce that, and since Chuta made no mention about such an important fact, she can assume they don't know. And obviously from Tatsukawa's behaviour just now, _Serizawa_ doesn't know, and this would mean Tatsukawa was keeping his illness a secret from everyone.

_A reasonable move, since something like this could weaken the Faction... Serizawa might be demoralised if he knew of his partner's illness... Speaking of him, is he in a particularly bad mood just now or does he looks like that all the time? Heh..._

On his side, Serizawa has a cunning strategist, a middle school national judo champion and a pair of twins who can synchronise their fighting moves like clockwork.

_On our side? We have a Yakuza trying to act cool, a girl masquerading as a guy, and a simple minded blockhead._ She thought sourly. _The only good thing we can have on our side to even up the odds is that I know Tatsukawa Tokio is down with a yet unknown illness, and Serizawa doesn't know about it._

And thereby lies the problem. Should she or should she not break her promise to Tokio? Should she or should she not tell?

_The angel says, you shouldn't break your promise, no matter which side the promisee is on. _

_The devil says, I can help Genji oh so much with this juicy bit of info, and in so doing, repay the help he provided. _

_And the angel argues: one should not take advantage of another's ill health as a weakness. It's not morally right._

_With the devil's retaliation: Tatsukawa Tokio is currently the weakest link in their gang and with Seriazawa unaware of this weakness..._

A sudden thought whacked Sora hard in her head and she choked on her mocha frappe.

"You OK?" Genji called across her, looking at her in askance. She nodded absently, fitting all the bits and pieces in her mind.

Serizawa _knows_, despite Tatsukawa not telling him. It made perfect sense why he appeared so pissed off just now. Something must have happened. She bet her loft suite Serizawa must have tried to weasel an admission out of Tatsukawa but failed.

"Sora... Sora... Sora!"

"I heard you." Sora said irritatedly. "Do you have to be so loud?"

"You spacing out!" Chuta said. "Did you even hear what we said?"

"Yes. You said to get Makise Takashi a girl." Sora snapped. "I heard."

Thank god for multitasking abilities.

"So how to get him a girl?" Genji asked.

"A Goukon." Sora answered, half sarcastically and half humorously. "Get some girls and go on a group date."

The 3 guys looked at each other, seriously considering the idea and Sora's smirk faded. "That was a joke, really."

"Yosh!" Ken exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. "That's what we'll do!"

"Count me out." Sora muttered, continuing to sip on her mocha frappe. This plan of theirs isn't a good plan but it is a plan nonetheless... So, she'll keep quiet about Tatsukawa's illness... for now.

* * *

They bailed out of school the next day, Genji and Chuta. They invited her along but she declined. No way will she help in a hopeless case of getting girls. Maybe Genji, He's good looking enough but Chuta and Ken? No way. The girl will have to be blind _and_ drunk, and even then, she highly doubt it possible.

Added to the fact that she's a girl herself and she don't see girls THAT way. She's straight.

No, thank you, she'd rather stay in school. She can use the time to catch up with a certain trio that has gained infamy for being among the best fighters in the freshmen year. (How come she's not included?)

"Yo!" She called out and smacked her hand down onto Pon's (she's still trying to get used to their nicknames) back, jerking him hard enough for him to drop his book. Mako and Hiromi whirled around from their spots in front, fists clenched and ready to attack.

"Asamori!" Pon called out in annoyance, bending down to pick up his book.

"Did I scare you?" she asked innocently though there could be no mistaking the glint of amusement in her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Hiromi asked disinterestedly, relaxing his stance and tucking his hands into his pockets.

"Can't I come find my fellow school mates?" Sora asked. "And I really don't have the interest to conquer Suzuran, so Hiromi can stop looking at me like I'm a rival or something."

Hiromi turned away, but Sora could detect a slight relaxing of his shoulders. She finished her chocolate milk and dumped the empty box into the rubbish bin. Apparently, she was the only one who even bothered to use the rubbish bin. As they walked past a corridor, however, she was intrigued to find a small gang gathering in a wide corridor, centred around a small guy with bleached blonde hair.

"Who's that?" She asked the 3 of them.

"That's Washio Gota." Pon answered derisively. "Second year. Arrogant as hell with what little fighting ability he has. He's aiming to go after Serizawa to be the head of Suzuran."

"No way can he do it. Serizawa's too strong to be felled by a young punk like him." Hiromi sneered.

"For all we know, he _may_ be able to do it." She pointed out, feeling a need to be the devil's advocate.

"Wanna bet on that?" Hiromi's eyes glinted challengingly and he smirked widely. "One thousand yen. Here he comes now."

"No bets." She hurriedly back down and turned to watch the confrontation that is going to occur..

"Yo Serizawa, Let's get it on!" Mr Bleach Blonde yelled cockily.

"That's Serizawa Tamao," Hiromi lowered his voice as he said to Sora, "Monster of Suzuran and self-styled Head of Suzuran."

"Who're the rest?" She asked curiously, wincing as Serizawa knocked the wind out of the freshman with just one kick. "I know that one is Tatsukawa Tokio."

"The guy with the slicked back hair is Tokaji Yuuji." That one she heard Chuuta speak about – the strategic brains of the gang. "The twins are the Mikami Brothers. They lead Class 3B. ."

_Ah..._

"Not so fast, Shorty!" The guy yelled, throwing down his cigarette and standing back up from where he had been kicked to.

Tamao faced him and kicked him in the stomach, causing the guy to fly back.

A strange shiver went down Sora's spine as she witnessed the fight, if it could be called a fight. Tamao used merely half of his strength, and the guy was defeated. Sure, he was still standing now, after suffering 2 hits from Tamao but that, Sora surmised, was because Tamao held back. From just the 2 moves, Sora could see how much power he could control. Somehow, Genji's quest to unite the school had just seemed so much harder.

Tamao and his gang turned away from the guy, who slumped immediately to the floor. As one, the quartet backed into the classroom, allowing the group to pass them by.

"So that's Serizawa Faction?" She remarked as they settled into chairs deeper in the empty classroom. "Wait, Isn't there one missing?"

"Tsutsumoto Shoji?" Pon answered. "Who's knows where he'd gone?"

Sora nodded slowly, feeling slightly disappointed. She had heard about Tsutsumoto Shoji from Chuuta and had wanted to see what he was like. After all, they were both fellow judokas - practitioners of Judo.

"Hey…" Hiromi began suddenly. "What's your purpose for being here if you aren't aiming to be at the top of Suzuran?"

"I'm here searching for my family."

"Har? Family? As in Yakuza family?" Hiromi obviously misinterpreted Sora's words and his face twisted into a dumbfounded expression. "How the hell are you going to join Yakuza while still in high school?"

"It's not impossible." Pon corrected. "Most who graduated from Suzuran join Yakuza. They value the fighting skills Suzuran grads have."

Wow, that's something she hadn't heard in all the ridiculous rumours flying around about Suzuran, although it was not very surprising, she supposed, but that's not the point. How did they manage to link families to _Yakuza_?

"No, morons!" Sora rolled her eyes. "Real family! I'm searching for my real family here in Japan."

"How did you get separated from your family?" Strangely, it was Mako who asked, looking up from his impeccably prepared lunch box.

She froze, hands still in the middle of peeling open another chocolate bar. Sora chewed her chocolate bar slowly, attempting to buy time with her actions. To tell or not to tell, that is the question.

"I don't know the details..." she admitted. "I only found out recently that my mum had family here in Japan. So I came to find them..."

"Here in Japan...? You mean you..." Hiromi began.

Sora responded by removing her glasses, revealing large brown eyes heavily rimmed with long black eyelashes. She held her hands to her eyes. When they moved away, they saw one brown eye had changed into a striking grey-blue one - the reason for her tinted glasses. They definitely weren't asian eyes.

"Contacts. I'm half-Japanese." She said, putting her contact back in place and slipping her glasses back onto her nose. "Due to some unknown reason, Mum had broken all contact with her family here in Japan. I'm here to find out why."

"Why come here to Suzuran?" Pon asked, furrowing his brows.

"Social Services couldn't manage to trace any relatives of my mum's, and mum absolutely never spoke of having family here in Japan. The only thing she spoke about her past is Suzuran and that's not even to me." Sora was still being sour about the fact that her mum never even confided something so important in her.

"Dude, you're not making sense." Hiromi snorted. "Why not just confront your mum instead of going such a big round!"

Hiromi immediately regretted his actions when a dark expression crossed her features.

"They're died in a car accident two months ago." She said quietly.

A/N: My apologies for the sudden abrupt ending and the delay in updating. I was having exams. While they are over now, I still have to focus on other aspects of life so updating may not be so frequent. Additionally, this chapter is not particularly interesting, I admit that, but it's needed as a connector. It's not written well enoug so can I get more reviews and criticism especially in areas of writing? Anyone?


	4. Chapter 4

She stared hard and long to make sure she was not seeing what she was seeing right now. Wordlessly, she pinched herself and yelped at the pain. Nope, it hurts, so she's still in reality.

_Oh Hell_.

Takashi Makise sat there in front of the projector screen, overdressed in a red silk shirt and white suit. Throw in his intimidating and not very good looks, he looked like a Yakuza. Sora wrinkled her nose. Between hell and dating this guy, she'll choose hell.

"If I don't get a girl out of this, our deal is off." Makise threatened.

Sora gulped. _Genji better be prepared for failure. He's definitely not getting a girl out of this_.

She turned around and grabbed hold of Ken and Genji. "I have no idea what's up your sleeves but whatever you pull, it better be damn spectacular. Thank god I can still jump boat and be with the Ebizuka Trio."

She moved to a table a few feet away and brought out a book. The waitress sat down her orders and left just as the ladies for the goukon turned up.

_Showtime..._

* * *

"There there… Come on, man…" Sora comforted a crying Genji. She tried not to smile but now that the whole goukon is over, she actually saw the funny side of it. From now onwards, she swore _never_ to let Makise in on any secret. That guy just cannot hold his mouth under pressure. Still, the way he shot his mouth off was damn hilarious. "It's not that bad."

"Are you crying?" Makise asked Genji incredulously. Genji let out a shaky breath. Makise turned away from him. "You sure are weird..."

Sora bit her lips as Genji pinched his own thigh. "Stop crying!" He ordered himself. His face contorted into a fierce expression that spelt trouble.

Ah… so Genji wanted the goukon not just for Makise as well. _Someone has a little crush..._

"Come on... Enough, Genji. Don't be too hard on yourself." Sora tried to comfort him. "Tell you what. Next time, I'll organise a Goukon for you guys. How's that?"

Makise and Genji looked up at her hopefully. "With Ruka and some other girls." Sora promised. "I may not look like it, but I'm Goukon Guru!"

Genji stopped sniffling, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "You sure?"

Gods, why does it feel like she's handling kids? "Yes, definitely."

"Yo guys, I've sent Chuuta home." Ken hurried up to them. "Sorry about today."

"Forget it." Makise shoot his head and drank deeply from the can of beer in his hands just as Genji pinched himself harder. Sora swore he would pinch his own flesh out.

"How about I take you guys to a message parlour?" Ken offered.

"Really?" Makise jumped up in shock, eyes wide.

"Sure." Ken looked down at Genji, who appeared to be glaring at him. He gave Sora a questioning stare, and she shook her head, hiding a small smile. "Genji, what are you, mad?"

"A massage parlor?" Makise repeated as if in disbelief, cutting in. "Really?"

"Yeah." Ken glanced at him, distractedly before turning back to Genji. "You crying?"

Genji wiped his eyes on his jacket sleeves as Sora gave him another pat on his back.

Genji did not respond, but Makise spoke again, "_A massage parlor?_"

"Yeah, first you do it on a bed. Then you do it on an oiled mat." Ken said sagely.

Sora rolled her eyes when Makise cheered up drastically at that. And then something weird happened.

"Ack…" Makise's eyes widened as he bent over, groaning so badly even Genji stopped his sniffling to look at him.

"What's wrong?" Ken asked worriedly. 'You gonna be sick or something?"

"Should we send him to the hospital?" Sora asked worriedly. Could it be all the beer he drank? But that can't be it. He barely drank a few cans. "Maybe I ought to call an ambulance?"

Makise didn't reply but he rushed to the corner of an alleyway. Sora shook her head. That's it. She's calling the ambulance.

"Uh-Oh" That came from Makise and immediately had her attention.

"Makise, You OK?" She asked worriedly as she approached him.

"I need a new pair of pants." Makise said embarrassedly, face sweaty and red.

"Why? What's wrong?" Sora asked. And then it hit her. All the weird groaning and the need for a new pair of pants. "Oh hell!

She refused to go near Makise after that. Genji managed to get a pair of ladies' pants and underwear for Makise, after banging on the doors of a few stores. A few minutes later, all four of them doubled over in laughter as Makise emerged from the dim alleyway, dressed in a fresh pair of flowered, elastic lady's pants.

"You're a fashion leader!" Ken howled.

"No Doubt!" Makise agreed, holding on to the steel pipe.

"Which side's the front?" Ken continued to taunt.

"I'm wearing woman's pants!" Makise panted lightly from his laughing effort. Gradually, they managed to recover from their laughing fit.

"I'll see you later, Makise." Genji was the first to take his leave, his tearful disappointment over his failed date forgotten. Likewise, Sora nodded her head, grinning away like a chesire cat.

"Later," Ken added.

Makise crouched down against the wall, watching them.

"Oie, Genji!" As one, the three of them turned to Makise, and he stood. "Class C—it's yours."

Genji nodded, satisfaction evident in his dark eyes. Makise nodded back. "Let's take it all." Genji raised a fighting fist, and Makise pointed back at him – symbols of their joint alliance.

_Step 2 of Operation Conquest – complete._

* * *

Genji couldn't stop smirking all the way as they went home. Ken-san was the first one to leave their group as they ventured closer to, citing that he needed to return to Kabuki-chou to run some errands.

"Dude, you haven't stopped smirking since just now." She couldn't help but try to burst his bubble as they walked along. "Give it a rest will you?"

"Shut up." Genji grumbled, punching Sora lightly on the shoulder. She dodged lithely.

"Don't mean to be a wet blanket." She continued onwards as if nothing happened. "I saw Serizawa beating the crap out of a 2nd year."

His smirk vanished at the name of his rival. "So what about it? I can take him."

"I know you can." Sora said patiently. "What I'm trying to warn you against is pride. Pride comes before a fall and all that. Don't get too cocky just because you recruited Makise. The next step's not going to be as easy."

Genji glanced at her sideways, lighting up a cigarette. At least she has his full attention now.

"The next senior we have to recruit is Izaki Shun, right? I've seen him. He's... not a simple person. In terms of brains and brawn, he definitely triumphs Makise. He won't be an easy opponent. " She wanted to mention that he definitely out class Genji in terms of brains as well, but on second thoughts, better not. She doesn't want Genji to get too depressed about himself. She's trying to warn him, not put him down.

"So what? I'll just take him on as usual." That was Genji's gruff reply.

She could feel a vein at her temple throbbing in agitation. Hasn't he taken in what she said? Maybe she ought not to hold back what she thought about him after all.

"Take him on? How?" She asked, trying not to sound so sarcastic. "Even with Makise on our side, at most, our strength is equal. We need some kind of strategy!"

His only answer was to grab her into a noogie. That was so uncharacteristic of Genji that she was stunned momentarily, immediately silencing until the pain his knuckles inflicted onto her scalp drew her out of her shock. She let out an indignant squawk, arms flailing around before she managed to grab hold of his sleeves and twisting her head out from his grasp.

"What was that for?" She demanded, straightening her hair and scarf.

"Trying to knock some brains out of your head." Genji deadpanned, a small smirk dancing around his thin lips. He chucked his cigarette onto the floor, extinguishing it with his foot. "You think too much. That our respective gangs are of equal strength only make it a fairer fight, ain't it? 'Least, it'll be a good fight. A fight that I _will_ win."

She gaped, blankly watching him stroll forward. That was it? That was his strategy? Have his gang meet Izaki's gang and see who wins?

"Sora," Genji called backwards. "You coming?"

She hurried forward to catch up with him.

"Don't worry about it." Genji said, blowing grey smoke up into the cool night air. "Just sit back and relax and join in the fun, if you want. Worry anymore and you end up turning your hair white."

He ruffled her hair, and she slapped his arm away, growling in annoyance. Still, his words lightened her heart. Maybe he's right. She worried too much. Mum had said the same thing about her. _When she had been alive_.

"Didn't know you could see without your glasses." Genji remarked. "You look like a girl without it."

"Eh?" she hurriedly felt her temples and merely touched her skin instead of the irritating plastic. Crap! Her glasses! It must've fallen off when Genji gave her a noogie and she didn't even notice!

"Crap! Wait for me!" She turned and dashed back to where her glasses lay, forgotten on the sideway, next to a Mercedes benz. Had that been there before?

"Oy! Wait!" Genji called out. Was it just her or did he sound slightly panicky?

One of the car doors opened and a large leather covered shoe stepped out. Sora felt her eyes widen when the shoe descended directly onto her glasses, smashing it into tiny little pieces.

_Oh NO..._

The rest of the body that came out was a muscular man with slicked back hair, flamboyant clothes and a goatee. Without even blinking an eye at the shattered glasses, the man swept a careless gaze across her and turned to open the secondary car door.

The man who stepped out was clean shaven, with black hair combed back neatly. He was tall, with a gaunt face and sharp black eyes, and was wearing a sharp black suit with the blazer opened up. Sora could feel a sudden caution infuse into her very being. The man – obviously a leader – was handsome in a sleek and dangerous way. He moved in a careless and cocky manner, as if he was aware of and totally uncaring about his surroundings.

"Why are you here, old man?" Genji sounded irritated. His hands were in his pockets – a sight of relaxation - but his whole body posture practically radiated tension.

On her side, Sora was surprised. This man _is_ his father? She turned to look at the man with a new perspective. Yeah, come to think of it now, they do have a family resemblance. The same gaunt cheeks, sleeked back hair, forehead and eyes. But Genji's lips were slightly fuller than the man's thin ones, and his nose was less aquiline and definitely more well formed. And whereas Genji was tall and lanky, the man was more lithely built.

"Can't an 'old man' stop to give his son a ride?" The man – Genji's father – drawled out. "And no, I ain't stalking ya. I've much better things to do."

"No thanks." Genji said coldly. "I'm still hanging with my friend."

The man's gaze slid nonchalantly to her, almost as if he had just realised she was there.

Sora prided herself on her skill at reading people's body language. It helped her to guess what people are thinking, to separate the genuine and the fakes when people are trying to curry favours with her. She had learnt since young that lies can be hidden behind words but actions and body language? Harder, much harder. Skilled enough at reading people's body language and one can almost be telepathic. In her case, she has been spot on 99% of the time.

So she was disconcerted, to say the least, when she found she couldn't read the blank mask Genji's father put on the moment he noticed her. What? What's wrong with her?

He can't possibly see through her disguise, can he? Suddenly, she was grateful for Genji messing up her hair. It won't make her look like a guy, but it'll help make her look less like a girl, thank God.

Almost too quickly, the man snapped on a casual smirk and said, "Well then. I won't be keepin' ya. Go right ahead and enjoy yourself."

He raised a hand in a casual salute. Genji turned quickly, as if he couldn't wait to get away from his father, and tugged her away.

Uneasily, she followed. It was only a chance meeting that lasted a few minutes, max. But why did it feel like a lot more has been going on? When she turned back, the man was still there, staring after them. Strangely, Sora got the feeling it was really only her he was looking at.

Author's Notes:

My deepest apologies for the long delay. I hadn't known how to continue on the last 'cliff hanger' from chapter 3. After a long time of deliberation, I ended up rewriting to skip that part. Hence, the rather awkward scene switch between this chapter and chapter 3. More than likely I will end up rewriting this entire story but that won't be happening anytime soon.

At least, now I realise why people say reviews are great motivators. They let you know that people are reading your story and then you're pressured to get something out of your head.

A warning to all readers, though. The above chapter is an unedited version and it's because I wanted something up before I have my exams. Coupled with writer's block, work and classes, the next update will definitely not be soon. But rest assured I'm not abandoning this story. It's my first one! And I have a lot of expectations for this story.

Once again, any constructive criticisms as to how I can improve this story?


	5. Chapter 5

The weekend went by peacefully. Sora was beginning to settle down in Suzuran. Truthfully, there wasn't much to get used to, other than the constant warring factions within the school. Academically wise, well, there weren't any classes at all. Hence, there wasn't any real reason to actually go to school since the teachers are not going to mark attendance or teach, unless one counts taking over the school as a reason.

_A pretty strong motivation, indeed_.

Thankfully, mum had tutored her back home in a different school curriculum and she was at least a year ahead of her peers. Otherwise, she has no idea how she was going to catch up with the rest of her peers and go to college. And college is a must. The country of origin of her diploma probably didn't matter but Ivy League colleges can be pretty strict, and she wasn't to go to any colleges other than Ivy League. Mum and dad made that pretty clear, back when they were alive. She's not going to go against her dead parents' last wish.

Even in Japan, Suzuran diploma is not very well looked upon, unless one counts the Yakuza. Sora found it slightly disturbing that majority of Suzuran graduates ended up in the Yakuza. It's almost like Suzuran is the breeding ground for future criminals.

All the more reason mum shouldn't have any association with this school and yet she had. How did mum know this school so well, anyway? Why had she been so secretive about her past?

"Sora!" Tokio's voice rang out behind her, distracting her from her thoughts. She turned around, surprised to see him.

"Tatsukawa -san." She greeted, inclining her head.

"Why so formal?" He asked in his jovial manner. He looked very glad to see her, as evident by his eyes. Sora can't help noticing his eyes. They always seem to sparkle with his every emotions – happiness, sadness, etc. "You can call me Tokio, you know. Just Tokio."

"Alright, Tokio." She gave a brief smile. "What's up?"

"What? Need a reason to come find you?" he asked, strolling along side her, one hand tucked inside his pocket and another slinging his school jacket over his shoulder, face turned up towards the sun with a happy expression.

"Well, no offense, we don't know each other that well." Sora pointed out. "We only knew each other because of that one time?"

A dark expression flitted across his face, but it was gone quickly. "You got me there…" he said calmly, smiling. "So, is it true 3C merged with 3E?"

She was really surprised that Suzuran Communications Network is so effective. It was just a few days after the Goukon incident and already, news of 3C joining 3E has spread around. Seriously, these guys at Suzuran gossip way more than girls.

"Yeah…" No need to deny the truth. "They joined up."

"I see…" Tokio said. He looked down at her, dark eyes steady. "And you? You're in their gang? Or are you with the Ebizuka Trio?"

"Huh?" She gaped, blinking her eyes rapidly at that. "I'm not really in either of their gangs at all! I'm just a... freelance bystander."

"Freelance bystanders don't fight alongside 3 of the strongest fighters in the 1st year." Tokio said dryly. "Nor do they help the head of one senior class to recruit another senior class."

"Did I do all those?" Sora said innocently. "I didn't fight alongside Ebizuka Trio. They are the ones who are helping to defend me, poor them. As for the latter, I assuming you meant Genji. Nope, that wasn't me."

"Really, the rumours flying around said otherwise." Tokio said. "Some say you're with Genji. Some say you're with the Ebizuka Trio. There're even those that say the Ebizuka Trio and Genji's gang is joining up because of you. You sure you're really not with their gangs then?"

Ebizuka Trio joining Genji? Suzuran will close down when that happens.

"Well~~~" She purposely dragged out that word, as she considered. She was more of a freelance bystander - something she suspects the trio to be unhappy with. Either she was with them or against them. But they had yet to say anything, so she left it at that. So, is she officially with Genji's gang or with the Ebizuka Trio? She merely hanged out with Genji once or twice, and Genji did help her out once. And she did survive the First Year War with the Ebizuka Trio. But that made them friends, not gang mates. And she hadn't agreed to join any gangs at all in the first place. But if she were to say that she wasn't part of Genji's gang or part of the Trio's gang, then it somehow feels like she's betraying them.

"Isn't it common courtesy to ask someone if they're willing to join your gang?" She replied at last. "Well, they've yet to ask me and I've yet to answer."

"How about joining me and Tamao then?" That was certainly out of the blue, and it startled Sora bad enough to make her jump.

"What?" She gaped, wide eyed.

"You heard me." Tokio turned and faced her, so it appeared that he was walking backwards. "Wanna join me and Tamao? We're the strongest in Suzuran as of now. You won't regret joining us. "

Now that made her feel even more of a traitor. Besides, joining them is an option she liked even less than joining either Genji or Ebizuka Trio. For one, she doesn't know anyone else in there except for Tokio, and she's not particularly close to him either.

"Er... Well..." She stuttered, brain churning quickly to find a reasonable excuse to reject him. "Well... Erm... You see, I'm really not interested in joining any gangs in Suzuran. Yeah I know the deal going on here but that's not what I came here for."

Now that she started talking, the words seem to flow from her mouth easily enough. "I can't fight. I mean I can fight but I can't fight. Ok, never mind, scratch that."

She is going to make herself look like an idiot if she doesn't get her act together. Damn Tokio for catching her off guard like this. How was she going to phrase this... "Look, firstly, I'm not here to fight. Secondly, I'm not allowed to fight. Thirdly, I don't think my friends AKA Genji and even Kirishima would like ..."

Tokio chuckled wryly, shaking his shaggy head from side to side. "Stop beating around the bush, Sora. It's a question of what _you_ want. Do y_ou_ wanna join us or not? Yes or no?"

That's... a good question she has yet to ask herself before.

"Well?"

That one word broke her out of her reverie. She blinked rapidly. "No, I really don't want to join your gang, Tokio. It won't be fair..."

"And that's it." Tokio interrupted. He smiled at her in an amused-cum-exasperated manner. "You really are quite strange, you know."

Her blank expression must have been enough to prompt him to continue, but he merely shook his head and switched the subject. "What are you doing here if you aren't here to compete to be the top of Suzuran?"

That seem to be the million dollar question on everyone's mouth the moment they heard that she was not here to fight.

"I... got kicked out of a few schools and the rest refused to take me?" She ventured out. Given her personality, the idea was so improbable it bordered upon impossible.

Apparently, Tokio thought the same way. He stared at her strangely before shrugging. "You don't have to answer me if you don't want to. It's none of my business, anyway... Will you join Genji and his gang if he asked?"

Another abrupt subject change, and a loaded question if she has ever heard one. More and more, she began to suspect this wasn't just a coincidental meeting between the both of them. Someone is out for information.

"Most probably not," She admitted. "But that is a probability not to be taken for certainty."

"Given your… close friendship with Genji, automatically, people will consider you part of their gang." Tokio looked at her with an unreadable expression. "If you're not with us, then you're against us…"

"Heheh…" She scratched the back of her hoodie covered head in nervousness. She could feel the tension in the air now. "But, we can still be friends, right? Just because we're helping out our respective friends doesn't mean we ourselves can't be friends."

She gave him a hopeful smile but Tokio only returned a weak one. "It doesn't really work that way here, Sora." He said. "Here, your gangs are your friends."

Her smile dimmed as she considered his words. "Well, then, I guess I'll see you around."

Tokio nodded. "Oh yeah, Sora?"

"Yeap?" She looked up at him dully.

"Don't be so afraid of saying what you want next time. You don't owe anybody any explanations for the decisions you make for yourself. Just be firm. Remember that, ok?" He gave a wan smile and turned away. "I'll see you around school."

A myriad of emotions past through her as she watch him walk away. What was his last sentence about? They had just, in bland terms, severed their friendship, hadn't they? A part of her felt betrayed. She had helped him, hasn't she? That's not enough to remain friends? But another part of her understood his mentality. Group norms are common in Japan – a country well known for its collectivism. And it's not like she didn't 'betray' him by not joining him and his friends, either.

"He's right, you know." A deep voice sounded from her left, breaking through her reverie. Sora started and turned her head. Genji stood nonchalantly in the shadows of the thick trees, calmly lighting up a cigarette. "You really got stop being so cautious and just go for the things that you want…"

She grunted, and then started as she realised a single fact.

"You were there all along?" She asked, a sinking feeling blooming in her guts. Crap, has he heard her conversation with Tokio? Has he heard how vague she has been about being in his gang? Has he _heard_ about her not joining his gang?

He nodded, moving out of the shrubs.

"Oh..." She said, looking down at her feet like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. What is she going to say now? What kind of excuse can she give? "Well, erm..."

"I'm glad you didn't join them." Genji mumbled.

"Eh?" She started, looking up at him with wide bespectacled eyes. Isn't He going to accuse her of betraying the group?

"Coz if you did, I'll be really pissed, but still, I probably won't be able to bring myself to hit you at all no matter what... Even if it's on the battle field."

HUH? What on earth is he trying to say? She understood the former part about being pissed. Hell, she would be if she was in his shoes, but the latter part? Sora stared blankly at Genji, trying to digest his mind boggling words. Strangely enough, instead of confusion, shock and disbelief warred within her as if her heart and body understood what her mind did not.

"... As it is, I'm just glad you didn't join them. You probably wouldn't join me if I asked, eh? Kinda expected it. You won't be able to decide between us and the Ebizuka trio anyway."

He's right on that one. Sora cringed as she heard him say that. Both Genji and the Ebizuka Trio are her friends. She didn't want to exclude either by joining one side. Hence, it's best if she doesn't join either group at all. But still, guilt welled up in her, adding to the surging mass of emotions inside her. Is he using some kind of reverse psychology on her? Can't be, he's not that devious. Surprisingly, Genji gave a rare chuckle and ruffled her hair.

"Don't look so serious." His lips twitched into an even rarer smile and his eyes twinkled, making him look even better-looking and even a tad bit dandyish. "It's OK, really. you don't really have to be on my side, as long as you're not on the side against me."

"Well, how do you expect me to look when you're talking shit like this?" Sora burst out, making him break out into a laugh. That was the first time she had seen him laugh. _As the Chinese saying goes, there're happy occasions every day, but there're particularly several today.*_

"Shit, eh?" Genji chortled. "You know this is the first time I've heard you cuss?"

She flushed, growling in her throat and glowering at him. "So what? It's also the first time today since I've met you that I've heard you _laugh_, or smile for that matter."

He gave a shrug. "Whatever it is, even if you did join other gangs, I'll still get your back."

Sora started in shock as she heard him. Is he being serious? A he turned and walked away, she stared at his retreating back.

"Why?" She hollered after him. Tokio had stated in no uncertain terms that she can either be his enemy or friend. And she has chosen the former. Why is he being different?

Her only answer was a short wave from him.

* * *

_Really, Boys_. Sora was still brooding deeply about the differences between Genji and Tokio even as she made her way to class 3E to find Chuta and perhaps even Makise.

"Sora!" The first thing she saw when she opened the classroom door was of a larger than life Chuuta flying towards the entrance AKA towards her. With reflexes honed by years of practice, she dodged out of the way, causing Chuta to smack against the wall behind her.

"What's wrong with you?" She demanded, trying to calm her racing heart.

"Well, um." Chuta fidgeted, rubbing his rather sore nose. "Izaki called Genji-san out."

"Izaki called Genji-san out?" Sora stared at Chuta blankly. "Er… So?"

She turned as if to enter into the classroom.

"So?" Chuta followed her into the classroom. Around them, students nodded respectfully to the both of them before turning away. "What are ya going to do about it?"

"Why should I do something about it?" Sora was careful now as she asked. At first when Chuta had told her that Izaki had called Genji out, she had dismissed it due to her irritation at being surprised. But now the more she thought about his words, the more uneasy she felt. From the way Chuta had stressed the words, it seems that Izaki's action of 'calling Genji out' has some significant meaning to it. But what? "Wait, what exactly does Calling Genji Out mean? Isn't it just like, getting him out of the classroom to talk or something?"

CHuta stared at her as if she's an idiot. "Well, both Izaki And Genji-san are leaders of their own class, right? When one leader calls another leader out, it's to discuss and settle any issues. Normally such issues involve taking over of one class by another, or if the underlings of one leader offended another leader, something like that. If no settlement can be reached, well, they lead their class to fight."

Sora stared at Chuta in fascination. More and more, it seemed like a rudimentary battle system, with rules and regulations governing each battle and fights, is starting to appear. "You guys have parley before fights?

"What's a parley?" he asked.

"Never mind." She mumbled, turning her mind back to the original issue at hand. Izaki called Genji out? Why? None of 3E offended 3C, so it must be because of the whole taking over class thing.

"Izaki's crazy, man." Chuta began again when Sora hadn't said anything. "He's not against fighting foul. What if he…?"

Sora frowned, understanding Chuta's concerns. The seed of uneasiness and worry in her grew exponentially. Genji may have gone alone, but not Izaki. If the talks deteriorated and a fight breaks out, who's going to back Genji up?

"So what are we gonna do?"

"We got to go find Genji." She decided. Izaki Shun isn't a person who plays by the rules. Suppose Izaki's gang numbers (at least) two whole class. However good in fighting Genji may be, taking on two classes worth of fighters is stretching it a tad bit much for him. And if Genji loses, rightfully, leadership of the combined 3 C&E classes will go to Izaki Shun. However, knowing Makise and Genji, they will definitely not accept Izaki as the leader. The resultant infighting will give the Serizawa Army a chance to move in to wipe out all three classes at one go. Better to get back up for Genji. "Round up some guys to find him."

"Right." Chuta nodded immediately. "Oy!"

"You can't do that." The classroom door slid open to reveal a rather determined looking Makise.

"Why's that?" Sora demanded. Why is Makise, of all people, stopping them? Isn't he part of Genji's gang now? Genji could be in trouble and here he is, stopping them from helping who should be the rightful leader of their combined gang.

"It's between the both of them." Makise said grimly, standing firmly at the doorway. "We have to stay out of it."

"Damnnit, Makise!" Chuta yelled, kicking a chair towards Makise in frustration. "Who knows what Izaki would do to Genji-san?"

"You gotta let them settle it on their own!" Makise said obstinately. "Whether Izaki is joining up with us or not depends on it."

"What the heck does that mean?" Sora exclaimed, pissed off that Makise was stopping them from finding Genji. . "Really, I'm beginning to think that you're not really on Genji's side as you said you would be!"

"Oh yeah? Who are you to judge? Are you really on his side as _you_ ought to be?" Makise retaliated. "Don't think Genji's the only one who saw what happened between you and Tokio just now -"

Sora blanched when she heard that, but Makise wasn't done. "- Genji may be fine with you not joining us but not me. You better make your stance clear! Weaklings who can't decide on which gang they wanna be in don't last very long in Suzuran."

"You…" Sora growled, her fists clenched tightly by her side.

"What?" Makise raised his chin, daring her to continue. He shook his fist menacingly, though that didn't deter Sora one bit. Perhaps in normal circumstances, she would have high tailed it out of there but for now, she couldn't care less.

"Enough!" Surprisingly (or maybe not), it was Chuta who broke up the fight. "Damn it all! Genji-san's the priority right now. Leave your fight for later."

Both of them glared sullenly at each other but neither of them said anything for a moment.

"I was the one who asked Izaki to meet with Genji." Makise began sullenly. He picked up the chair that Chuta had kicked in his frustration, and sat down on it. "Genji wanted Izaki's class to join us, so I arranged a meeting between them to talk it out. Whatever Izaki had up his sleeve, he promised me he won't take it too far, and on the condition Genji meets him alone. Genji agreed."

"We just have to trust the both of them to come to a conclusion that is good for all of us. And I do trust the both of them." Makise said. "For now, we should wait."

There was silence in the classroom after Makise's little truth-out. Sora hesitated and then proceeded to make herself comfortable on a nearby chair. Chuta followed, after reassuring everyone in the classroom. She folded her arms on the table and rests her cheek on them. Makise's right. For now, they can only trust both Genji and wait. And that's the worst part. The clock seemed to tick by so slowly. It's seemed like aeons past when the rest of their classmates drifted back home. And it seemed like forever when the sun began to set, casting a bright orange glow in the classroom where only the three of them remain. Still, no sight of Genji or Izaki.

"Hey Makise," Sora began hesitantly. "Well, I'm sorry for doubting your loyalty to Genji."

A grunt was all she heard. She winced inwardly. Looks like she really offended Makise big time.

"I shouldn't have called you a weakling either. My bad." Makise said grudgingly. "Genji trusts you a lot. Based on this, I should have trusted you, and him, too. 'Sides, you don't seem to be the kind to abandon your friends. Guess you must have your own reason. "

"You guys are my friends." She admitted. "But the Ebizuka Trio are my friends too. If I joined you guys, I'll be betraying them, and vice versa. Ask me to choose between Tamao and you guys, I'll choose you guys hands down. Ask me to choose between you guys and Ebizuka Trio, that's impossible."

"So that's why you refused to join us. Che." Makise said, smiling a little - an expression that made him look scarier than his 'angry' expression. Chuta remained quiet throughout their conversation but he was smiling quietly. Sora has to revise her opinion of him now. He wasn't just a simple minded blockhead anymore. Chuta has more than a few brain cells in him.

BANG!

The classroom door slid open, crashing against the door frame loudly. The three of them turned sharply as one, staring at the doorway. Izaki Shun stood there, with an unconscious Genji over his right shoulder. Sora gave a loud gasp as she took in the scene and what appeared to be a defeated Genji.

"Genji-san!" Chuta gasped.

Makise and Chuta hurried to help a badly bruised and bloody Genji down onto the tables which Sora hastily put together to form a make shift bed. She quickly removed and rolled up her bulky school jacket to form a small pillow of sorts. Gently, she tucked it underneath his head and took a tissue paper out in order to clean the blood off his wounds. She should have brought bandages and antiseptic. Come to think of it, why hadn't she thought about using the long waiting time to go outside and get them?

"Damnnit, Izaki!" Makise roared, kicking a nearby table away from him. Despite focusing majority of her attention on Genji's wounds, a small part of her still noted his anger and she could understand it. Izaki failed to honour his promise that Makise was holding him to. In a way, Makise's credibility would be lost as well. But most importantly, his friend - and leader - was hurt – badly. Makise contributed indirectly to that. Guilt - and the knowledge that one have cause harm to one's friends - is one of the hardest emotions to bear.

Izaki remained unfazed by his anger.

"Why'd you get behind this guy?" He asked, in a tone of scepticism, as if he really couldn't understand why Makise would want to follow Genji. Sora glanced sharply at him. Underneath all that, she could detect a strange undercurrent of emotion in Izaki's voice. What it was exactly, Sora has no idea. But she could empathise. The closest she could come to describe it would be a need for answers – for enlightenment, perhaps. "Don't say its cause he tried to get you laid."

Makise faltered. "No reason… Not one that I can explain, anyway."

Satisfied that Genji's wounds would not be serious, Sora looked up at Izaki with a steady calm expression. Izaki was not satisfied with Makise's answers, if his frowning expression was anything to go by, and he turned away. But Sora could tell from the way he firmly holds himself, straight and unflinching, that he has already made up his mind.

But what is his decision?

"You tell him this:" Izaki turned his face back and Sora saw a small cocky smirk on his face. She let out a breath that she had been unaware that she was holding at all. A small smile bloomed on her face as she eyed Genji. "Tomorrow, I'll show him how to throw darts."

_Step 3 of Operation Conquest – Complete._

* * *

* 好事天天有，今天特别多 (For those who knows Chinese =X)

Author's Notes:

When I made that remark about reviews in Chp 4, I honestly wasn't expecting it to lead to so many reviews and alerts. I'm honestly and extremely grateful for them. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. But the stress each alert and review gave me each time I opened my email box to find them was… _ Still, it is positive stress that did force me to stimulate my brain power and so, here it is, chapter 5 and the longest chapter to date, not that there really were a lot of chapters.

When I first started this story, the aim was to explore the both the internal and external environment of Suzuran. Both movies and the manga hadn't focused much on them so my aim has been to try to relate Suzuran to the outside world as best as I could. =X So probably, there will be a lot from Sora's POV that will not be focused entirely on Suzuran and our favourite gangsters.

Btw, Almighty Stalker brought up some questions. Here are my answers, addressed to everyone reading:

Regarding pairings: No, I didn't consider pairings yet. Would you guys like pairings? If, and IF, there is a pairing, who would you like her with? Bear in mind, pairings are still a probability and not a certainty. =X

Regarding violence: I'm guessing you're talking about fight scenes. I'm not that good in writing that I can write fight scenes. I will try though, since you want more violence. But there really won't be much in the upcoming chapters, as I already made my stance that Sora won't be a fighter. So, yeah.

I'm curious. What are your impressions of Asamori Sora, and of the portrayals of the few canon characters so far?


	6. Chapter 6

"bold" - In Japanese

**"Bold"** - In English

* * *

With the alliance of class 3C, D and E, the group has been renamed GPS – Genji Personal Succession. The unused school swimming pool became their headquarters, with the GPS banner unfolded in the swimming pool. Over the next few days, the group undergo hardcore partying – baseballs, darts, and even at the local bars that Suzuran gangsters frequented.

It was fun playing darts with Izaki the first day of their 'alliance'. Sora had been right about Izaki. He had both brains and brawn, and fearless to boot. It was this combination that made her more than wary of him, despite warmly welcoming him into their little gang. But still, as she analyzed it later, Izaki Shun is a man of loyalty. Once you have his loyalty, you'll have it forever. But of course, he doesn't give it easily.

But now that Genji has his loyalty, it means the addition of one more powerful lieutenant to their banner and a surge in their gang numbers. Sora paused as she realized something. Since when has she begun considering herself as part of GPS? Since when has she started taking sides?

_Since you rejected Tokio's offer of joining his gang_. Her inner voice whispered insidiously. She shook her head and continued. With the constant hardcore partying with GPS, she has been neglecting a certain trio.

_Time to see what they've been up to. _

It wasn't that she wanted to neglect them. She was apprehensive that they'll do a Tokio and stop being her friends. She hadn't really been bothered with what Tokio had done, given that she wasn't that close to him at all, but she was bothered with what he had _said_. If only friendship only existed within the same gang, then how will the trio react to her, given that she was practically considered part of GPS? Would they do the same as Tokio had done? And she did care about them. They were the first friends she made since coming here. Hence, she had delayed going to see them. But Genji was right, she should stop wavering and being so indecisive in everything that she does.

Or more accurately, given that both Tokio and Genji are too considerate to say it bluntly, she got to stop being so afraid and a scaredy cat .

So right now, she has got to confirm for herself whether the three of them still wanted to be friends with her or ostracize her for joining another gang. As she walked down the stairs and turned into a dusty school corridor, she started to see more first years, who stared at her curiously and even suspiciously, but did nothing to hinder her movement. With her connections to GPS, few now dared to come after her.

"Have you seen the Ebizuka Trio?" She enquired, grabbing hold of a random first year.

The boy – with dyed gold hair and chain links hanging at his hips – hesitated before nodding and pointing down the corridor. "First classroom on the right."

She nodded her thanks and continued on her way. The room that the trio was in was probably a sports room before but now has been converted into a lounge of sorts for them and their little gang that they've amassed. Chairs and tables were strewed haphazardly around and near the center of the classroom was a worn looking pool table. Kirishima and Pon were playing pool, with Mako sitting nearby reading a comic book.

Her initial resolve vanished the moment she saw them and she hovered uncertainly, unsure of her reception. In the end, it was Pon who saw her first. He faltered in his turn when he saw her standing at the doorway, causing Kirishima to look behind him to see her. The sudden silence caused Mako to look up from his book. When he saw her, Mako sat up. _A big reaction, coming from him…_

"Hey." She waved a hand when she saw that she has their attention.

"Oh, you." Kirishima said disinterestedly, returning to the game. "Finally remembered us?"

"Er, what?" She blinked rapidly at that. That had not been what she was expecting to hear from Kirishima. Does that mean he's still willing to befriend her?

Kirishima stared at her sullenly. "You heard me. Finally remembered us, eh? I thought all that partying with _them_ got to your head."

He stressed the word 'them' as if they were dirt on the soles of shoes.

"No, it didn't… I mean, eh…" She gave out a nervous laugh, walking hesitantly into the classroom. From the way they sound, it looks like they aren't going to pull a Tokio after all. That certainly was good to know. "Well, as you know, life got a little busy, that's all. But I'm here now, right?"

Kirishima merely snorted, and slammed the pool ball so hard with his cue stick that it flew out of the pool table. Cursing and swearing, he bent down to retrieve the errant ball. Sora winced. While she was still accepted, she certainly was not forgiven.

"Oh, come on. I was only gone for slightly more than a week? Seriously, that's not a long time… If this is about me joining GPS…" She paused as a sudden insight flashed in her mind. If she were in their shoes, how would she react if they suddenly pop up and just after rumors circulated about them joining a rival (and bigger) gang? "You think I'm here just to recruit you guys to join the GPS?"

"Aren't you?" Pon asked after a rather awkward silence following that statement.

She slowly shook her head. "I'm here on my own."

The three of them traded questioning looks with one another as she stood nervously in the classroom, close enough to them but far enough to run if need be.

_Run? Whatever for? _

But it seems somehow, that sentence managed to release the tension in the room. Kirishima was the first to turn away from Mako and Pon, with a scowl on his pretty boy face.

"At least, you're here." He said at last, as if he didn't know what else to say. He turned back to his game. This time, he hit the pool ball accurately and a colored ball shot into the table pocket. "Well, stop standing there like an idiot. Grab a seat or something."

Cocky and demanding - so much like the Kirishima that had stood up to Izaki. She grinned and plopped down on the chair next to Mako, helping herself to some of his mochi, and comic books.

The four of them relaxed together on a slow afternoon. None of them talking much but simply enjoying the time with one another. It was a welcome change for Sora after a week of hectic, energetic partying with GPS.

"So any progress on finding your family?" That question shot out of the blue. Sora turned her head sharply towards Kirishima.

"Wuh?" Was her genius reply. Kirishima hit the white cue ball, causing another colored ball to drop into the table pocket. Apparently, that was the last of the colored cue balls.

"Pay up!" He demanded smugly. With a hand outstretched towards a disgruntled Pon, who took out his wallet, Kirishima turned towards Sora. "Your family. Any luck on finding them? You really are quite dense today, aren't you?"

"Well, forgive me if I had been paying attention to Mako's books." She replied, annoyed. "And no, no progress as of yet."

More and more, she was beginning to think that her trip to Japan based just on a conversation between her mum and her current trustee-cum-lawyer was a stupid decision. Her only excuse for such an action was that at that time, just after her parents' death, her instincts (which are usually right) hammered at her to go to Japan. That and the overwhelming need to escape from her home country.

"Have you checked the school records for any information? What kind of information are you looking for anyway?"

That broke her out of her reverie. Good question. Right now, she was still going through her parents' assets and financial history, hoping to find any leads to her mother's estranged family. But it was a futile effort. If she was hoping to find leads, she would probably have to check backwards at least fifteen years. Banks keep records for a maximum of ten years.

"Is your mother linked to Yakuza?" Pon asked suddenly. He moved to sit down on a chair close to her, grabbing one of the thick Japanese novels he loved to read.

"Whatever gave you _that_ impression?" She snorted. Her mum? Linked to Yakuza? That idea is pure absurdity. She removed her glasses and polished them with her shirt, uncaring that her grey-blue eyes were revealed. They knew anyway, and the contacts hurt her eyes ever since Genji tackled her into the pool that was GPS's Headquarters.

"You said your mum is linked to Suzuran." Pon propped his feet up on a nearby table, reaching up to remove his mask. "Most of Suzuran Graduates join Yakuza. This idea has a higher probability than anything else. "

She was floored, to say the least. Her mother? Yakuza?

"No _way_, Dude…" She laughed. That idea is ludicrous, to say the least. "My mum is the total opposite of what a Yakuza is… She's not rowdy, can't fight and can't swear to save her life. She's gentle and well, _feminine_."

"You sure about that?" Pon asked, smirking widely. He had removed his mask and Sora really thought he didn't look too bad. Pity the girls who can't see him without his mask off.

"The truth speaks for itself, Pon…" Krishima snorted, a large smirk on his face as he glanced cheekily at Sora. "Look at how effeminate he is… Must have got it from his mother…"

Was she really that bad at cross dressing? But hey, since none of them has really suspected her of being a girl at all. It must mean that she is, at least, competent in that role.

"True…" Pon said, nodding sagely. "If not for the fact that he is in our school, I would have considered her a girl…"

… Or maybe not…

"What's that supposed to mean?" She said defensively, deepening her voice so as to sound more like a guy. "I'm not effeminate! I'm just… androgynous…"

She winced inwardly at that weak comeback.

"And that's supposed to be better?" Kirishima asked gleefully. Even Mako was smirking away.

"Of course! One has a more negative insinuation and the other has a more... socially acceptable implication."

"But the underlying meaning remains the same." Pon pointed out. "Both meant that you're a guy who's far more like a girl than a guy."

She narrowed her eyes at Pon, ready to do battle and contest that statement. Hadn't anyone taught them that a lady is always right?

"All right, All right." Pon held both hands up. "Hold your horses… We're just kidding… Jeez!"

She pressed her lips together and turned away, shoving her glasses back onto her face. Inwardly, however, she's glad that they still assumed she's a guy. She really didn't want to think about the consequences if anyone found out she's a girl. She can probably beat the crap out of most of them in order to threaten them into silence. But if the discoverer happens to be the Ebizuka Trio or Genji or, God forbid, any of the other top players in Suzuran, she'll have the crap beaten out of her before she can land a blow on them.

"Dude… You know you're pouting like a girl, right?" Kirishima asked.

* * *

"_**Hey, it's me, Solange. I've got something to tell you… Are you alone now?"**_

"_**What's up? You've found something important?"**_

"_**The accountants finished checking through your parent's… your accounts… Apparently, A few months back, your mother made a transaction of at least 2 million dollars to a property agency in Tokyo, Japan." **_

"_**2 million? That's roughly 160 million yen! What on earth is she buying..? You didn't know she was buying a property in Japan?"**_

"… _**I wasn't the lawyer handling the transaction…"**_

"_**But you're our family's lawyer! Wouldn't you have been kept in the loop?" **_

"_**Well, apparently, I wasn't... Your mother made this purchase without letting ME know…"**_

"… _**Do you know who handled that transaction or which property agency it was? Any leads?"**_

"_**No… Not yet. I thought you would want to know about this first..."**_

"_**Thanks..**__. __**Can you send me the bank account number? I'll try to see what I can find here in Japan."**_

"_**All right... "**_

* * *

While the rest of GPS were busy creating a racket at the swimming pool, Sora was busying herself with her own thoughts. She propped herself at the edge of the floating platform, overlooking the antics of the entire group but not taking part in them.

She was too busy trying to sort out the news that Solange told her last night. Her mum splurged 2 million dollars on a new house a few months before her death.

_For what? For Who?_

She kept it from Solange, judging by the undertone of emotion she had detected from Solange, and Sora was willing to bet she kept it from Dad as well.

_Why?_

More and more, she was beginning to realize that she knew nothing of her mother at all. Or rather, was what she knew of her mother real?

_Does dad even knew anything of her? _She wondered. _Is there anything real of the Mask she showed to us?_

Come to think of it, her mother had been very different from other socialite mothers around. Other women she knew – mothers of her friends – shopped constantly or organized parties and what not. Some chaired charitable events though that's more for the publicity than for the actual charity. Others have day jobs as gossipers.

Her mother, on the other hand, had steered clear of all these. She preferred to volunteer at the local soup kitchens, often bringing Sora there and stressing to her just how lucky Sora was and to be grateful for all that she has. Then there's also how her mother personally ran the household. Other parents she knew of left the running of the household completely to their butlers.

So many of such instances… To sum it all up, her mother had been pragmatic and down-to-earth when other people of their circles were not. Why? She had attributed it to the fact that mum was from the working class, but then that still doesn't some discrepancies in her own upbringing.

For one, her mother literally made it compulsory for her to take up martial arts. While other parents prioritized music and dance for their daughters, her mother literally forced her father to enroll her in martial arts class. Sure, she had attended the same music and dance classes but her mother hadn't stressed them as much, allowing her to skip such classes for Judo or Aikido. Other parents would have gone ballistic. Dad did go ballistic, though, but that's not the point…

"Fire in the hole!"

The next thing Sora knew, she was flying through the air and then submerged into water.

"What the hell?" She surfaced and sputtered. Around her, GPS members roared with laughter.

She flailed around and turned to see a smirking Izaki in the water with her.

"Izaki?" She gaped. "What the hell was that for?"

She swam for the shore, intent on getting out to dry. Once again, she cursed the fact that she has to wear the man-vest. That thing constricts when wet, making it tighter and harder for her to breathe.

A weight suddenly landed on top of her sank her into the pool again. She tried to shrug it off but the arms-like clamp around her waist prevented her for doing so.

"Waugh!"

* * *

"You, Izaki Shun, are an idiot." Sora grumbled as she toweled her head dry.

"What?" he smirked. "I was just doing what I have to."

"Tackling me into the water?" Sora asked dryly. Izaki shrugged. "And how is that necessary?"

"Blame Genji." Shun said, his voice muffled as he buried his head in his towel. "It was a double dare from him and Chuuta."

Sora growled as she continued toweling her hair. Those two idiots is going to get it from her later, one way or another. Maybe she could prank both of them… Will adding Shoyu sauce into their beer suffice? Nah, too light…

Her train of thoughts about vengeance derailed when she bumped into Izaki, head first into his shoulders.

"Hey, move it." She looked up and prodded him with both her towel covered hands. He remained silent and looked to his left. Sora followed his gaze and instantly stiffened.

Tokaji Yuji... and his gang.

"There is no clean fight in a war." That was the only sentence he spoke as more students came from all directions, effectively surrounding Izaki and Sora. "Right?"

"Sora, you can't fight, right?" Izaki said quietly, one hand attempting to shove Sora behind him. Sora's inability to maintain a fight for long was, by now, common knowledge in the gang. "Stay behind me."

"Don't be stupid, Izaki." Sora clenched her jaw together. She stood back to back with Izaki. "They're coming on all sides."

Adrenaline was rushing through her blood, speeding up her heart rate and loosening up her muscles. Her mind calmed down, despite the raging aggressive emotions in her - her "Aggressive Mode" switching on in anticipation of a fight. This fight was different from the First Year War with the Ebizuka Trio. That had been a fight for dominance. This one is going to be a fight for survival, literally.

As one, they threw their towels down.

And the fight began.

* * *

A/N: I apologise! I apologise for the late update! I rushed to get this chapter out. This chapter is not as good as the previous one, I admit. _ Please don't kill me.

Regarding Storyline – Yesh, This story is going to extend into Crows Zero II.

Regarding Pairings – Uncertain as of yet, but not with Genji because, in the movie, Genji is already officially with Ruka.

As seen above, I'm breaking the rule about Sora not being a fighter because well, the fight above is essential. _ There will be a couple more exceptions to that rule.

There is something off about Asamori Sora. Have any of you discovered that yet? =X

Btw, thank you very much for reading! =X


	7. Chapter 7

They came at her in groups of 2 and 3s.

The first guy came at her in a pretty direct manner – with a fist raised. She dodged inwards towards his chest, grabbed his arm, spun and threw him over her shoulders. The second guy slammed hard onto the floor with a well set-up wrist lock. A third ended up kissing the floor when she disarmed him with an Ude Gatame. As a precaution, she drove her knee into the back of his head, effectively knocking him out.

_Thank you, mum! _ She had never been so grateful for her mother's insistence to learn Judo and Aikido as she was now. Most of her attackers were really bigger than her. Some were at least three times her size.

The remaining attackers surrounded her warily, each hesitant to be the one to confront her. She glanced from side to side, senses alert for any movement. Already, she was panting. Thanks to the restrictive man vest, she was only able to take in small amount of air each time she inhaled. This fight has to be finished soon if she has any hope to get through it. Yet judging by the numbers that remained, that won't be happening anytime at all.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blonde head weave in and out of the crowd, leaving injured students in its wake. Izaki's alive then. Good, she won't have to help him… What was she thinking? She had better take care of her own attackers first before thinking about helping him.

"Come on, then!" She called out sharply. The sooner the fight starts (again), the sooner she can get it over with.

One brave soul gave a strangled yell and charged at her, steel pole waving in his hand. Almost as if encouraged by his actions, the rest followed, with varying degrees of aggressive battle cries. She lost track of time as she disarmed, punched, kicked, threw and dodged. For every student she knocked down, others would take his place. It had soon become clear to Sora that she wasn't at all that good at striking. All that she knew came from (a) action movies, (b) observing how the guys in Suzuran fight, and (c) throwing a few punches and kicks (very few) herself during _Kata_ training.

And if she could detect this, so could her opponents. Add to that were her rapidly waning strength and stamina, compounded by her god damned vest. The odds against her are not good. And it's not like she can run, either. Students are blocking the few exits and she can't possibly abandon Izaki in the middle of a fight, even if it's to run to get help.

"Go to hell!" A giant of a guy – big enough to be a sumo – charged at her. She blanched when she saw him charging towards her like a battling ram. As his fist came towards her, she dodged to the side, grabbed his hand, placed one leg against his ankle just as the other hand grabbed his shoulder and twisted her upper body. There was the sudden sound of cloth tearing and a release of the restriction around her chest and diaphragm. She groaned inwardly. Mr. Sumo twisted in midair like a screw and landed hard on his back, knocking the wind out of him. He wasn't going to get up anytime soon.

"You OK?" Something hard thumped against her back. She started before realizing it was Izaki. He was back to back with her. She hadn't realized when he had managed to fight his way over to her.

"Y… Yeah!" She panted out after a few tries at speaking, clutching her stomach, acting as if she got kicked in the stomach. In truth, she was trying to gauge the extent of the damage to the vest. From the amount of freedom she suddenly has, she reckoned the whole vest tore at the seams.

_Just as well… I can hardly fight with it on... _

She only hoped that no one will be able to find out. The sports bra she wore underneath her vest and hoodie might conceal her chest but she can't use her judo techniques anymore. There would be far too much close contact and then it would be impossible to hide.

Izaki snorted. "Are you sure?"

He was skeptical, as Sora appeared sickly pale. She had a bruise at the corner of her mouth and at her jaw bone and her body was shaking badly. He suspected it was from exhaustion. They have been fighting for a while now and with their full strength against this many opponents. Even he would admit that the intensity of the fight is staggering.

"Worry about yourself!" She snapped as she recovered and knocked an opponent off with a leg sweep. Izaki wasn't in a better condition than her apparently. His movements are jerky and he was visibly slower.

Something silver flashed by at the corner of her vision, aiming straight for her companion.

"Look out!" She yelled to Izaki, who was busy punching the lights out of a student. He didn't see the metal pole coming down on him.

Cursing, she dove at him, twisted her body in mid air and slammed her shoulder into Izaki's back, effectively knocking him away. She held her arms up in front of her in a cross stance. The steel pole descended and smashed straight into her arms. Pain rang down her arms in cutting waves. She winced, tears prickling her eyes.

"SORA!" Izaki roared, shoving aside the student he had punched.

Sora was far too distracted with the mind numbing pain to notice the fist heading towards the side of her forehead. Her vision exploded into multitudes of bright stars and she stumbled backwards, to be caught by Izaki.

"Sora! Sora!" the usually cool Izaki shook her almost frantically. "Are you all right?"

_Do I look all right to you? And if you keep shaking me like a dog, I won't be all right._ That was what Sora wanted to retort but she merely nodded in reply. It was a miracle she was still standing but since she was, she should be all right.

"What the hell?" There was a sudden lull in the fight. "Look at his eyes!"

_Huh_? She reached a shaky hand up to her eyes, not exactly surprised to find her glasses gone from the hit in the head. It had dropped onto the floor when she touched it, broken and dirtied with dust and blood.

"I don't fucking care if she's an alien!" Tokaji Yuuji snarled as he removed himself from his position by the wall. "Do them both in already!"

As one his gang members surged forward like a tsunami wave. Sora grabbed the wrist of one student, smacked her hand on the side of his head and spun on her heels to throw him into the direction of his fellow mates.

"Take that! Heh! You guys look like you've never seen a half Asian before…"

Abruptly, she jerked back, pain in her throat overriding all other feelings and sensations. Bright spots exploded in her vision and there was a sudden dullness in her hearing. She recognized the symptoms from her judo training, when she had to let fellow judokas practice chokeholds on her. Someone is choking her and has effectively cut off the blood flow to her brain. As she struggled to breathe, she clawed frantically at her throat.

_Someone is choking me with my own scarf… The irony of that…_

As her vision blurred, she clawed even more recklessly, inching fingers into the space between her scarf and her throat. Whoever was choking her tightened the scarf, trapping her fingers. As a last resort, she kicked backwards, successfully making contact with someone's flesh. There was a loud grunt and she was released.

But she wasn't given the time to recover as Tokaji's goons surrounded her and rained blows on her body. She curled up in pain, biting her lips to stop herself from whimpering. She's not _that_ weak to cry, for God's sake! She's not!

A feet smashed into her side and pain exploded in her ribs with her breath forcefully expelled thanks to the power of the blow. Her vision went white for a moment as she felt her body curl with pain. She dimly felt the rest of the blows, as if she's floating off into another dimension.

She had no idea how much time has passed. She must have fainted because, one moment, she could feel Tokaji's gang beating her up. But the next moment, she was being strung up by her wrists. Next to her, she could see Izaki being strung up by his legs, covered in blood. She guessed she didn't look any better.

She closed her eyes and inhaled soft, tiny mouthful of air. It hurt just to breathe.

Her last thought before drifting into unconsciousness was how, in this current state, she was going to hide her gender from everyone…

* * *

Fingers touched her and she furrowed her brows slightly, blinking her eyes lightly. She doesn't like being touched. She opened her eyes blearily to see Genji laying her down.

"Slowly, easy there...!" She heard someone say.

It sounded like an amplifier right next to her ear and she winced, and then coughed harshly – a sharp, hacking noise. Someone had the sense to roll her to her side and she coughed out blood.

Meanwhile, Genji and the others interrogated Izaki, who was lying next to her. She had the strong sense that she was forgetting something very important.

What was it that she was forgetting? She curled her body, however painful It was to do so, and tried to sit up. Hands rushed to push her back down, she smacked them away with her remaining strength.

"Don't touch me!" She wanted to say, but all that came out was a croak.

"What is it?" Genji was hovering next to her now. "No, don't speak!"

Oh yeah, now she remember what happened. She got ambushed by Tokaji Yuuji, had the crap beaten out of her, her vest tore and she is currently in the potential danger of being exposed as a girl.

Nearby, one of their gang members was calling the emergency medical services for ambulances.

_Shit…_

She can't have the medics seeing her like this. It'll be as good as announcing to the world that a cross dressing girl is in Suzuran. Wouldn't that make the headlines?

That thought gave her the strength to sit up despite the excruciating pain in her body and her head.

She has to find a way back home. Nishimura-san can get the concierge doctor. At least, they understood the meaning of confidentiality and will keep her cross dressing identity a narrowed her eyes as she saw Chuuta, Genji and Makkie arguing a distance away. The whole gang was busy watching them and Izaki was out for the count. If she wanted to run, now's her only chance.

With the last of her strength, she got off the makeshift bed and quietly stumbled off.

* * *

Word of how Izaki and Sora got beaten up by Tokaji Yuuji spread like wildfire through the whole school by the next day. And given their position in the school hierarchy, it was no surprise that it reached the Ebizuka Trio quickly.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Kirishima yelled, brown eyes wild with shock. Next to him, Pon was equally shell-shocked, judging by the strewn novel lying on the floor that he had not bothered to pick up. Mako's expression was, as usual, unreadable but he was stiffer than usual and his fists were clenched.

The first year who told the news to the trio quailed under Kirishima's fury.

"Word has it that Izaki Shun of 3E and Sora from our year got done in by Tokaji Yuuji." The first year repeated. "Tokaji Yuuji was boasting about it just now in the canteen. Apparently, Izaki Shun is in hospital right now. And Tokaji said, GPS won't have a chance of winning the Serizawa Faction and he warned out loud to everyone not to join them or they'll end up like Izaki and Sora…"

"Wait. Hold on." Mako interrupted. "Izaki Shun is in hospital right now."

The First year nodded affirmatively.

"What about Sora?"

Kirishima's head swiveled back to them. He had been staring into space a while ago, contemplating the news he had just heard. The first year hesitated, when Kirishima turned sharply to eye him like a hawk, and then said. "Nobody knows. Apparently, he vanished before the ambulance arrived. They followed the blood trail - "

Pon and Kirishima paled slightly.

" – But it suddenly stops outside Suzuran. None of the GPS can contact him either. His cell phone is off."

The three of them exchanged a long look. "Right, thanks for the information. You can go." Mako informed the first year who high tailed it out of there gratefully.

Pon sank back into his chair and ran a hand through his hair. "Where could he have gone in that state? And what was Takiya Genji doing, letting his gang members get their ass kicked."

"That bastard…" Kirishima growled. Pon couldn't be sure if he was referring to Tokaji or to Genji. Kirishima's dislike of Takiya Genji was known in their group. He respected Izaki Shun for his fearlessness and cunning. The fact that Izaki Shun chose to follow Takiya Genji didn't sit well with him. He simply couldn't, for the life of him, figure out what's so good about Genji. The fact that Sora chose to follow Genji and not be with them, made it worse.

"He can't be contacted." Mako confirmed the first year's words, fiddling with his cell phone. "His phone is switched off."

Pon looked with Kirishima, who had a haunted and worried expression on his face. "What do we do?" He asked.

Despite knowing him for only a few weeks, Sora had become their friend, and Kirishima cared more for their friend than he cared to admit. Would this attack be the catalyst that made Kirishima put aside his dislike for Genji and join his alliance? Or would he want mobilize the first years to attack Serizawa Faction?

If they did join hands with GPS to defeat Serizawa Faction and in the event that they did defeat Serizawa Faction, by de facto, that would make Genji the first person in Suzuran to unite the whole school… Somehow, that goes against the pluralistic traditions and beliefs of the school. Mobilising the first years to attack the first years is suicide.

No way, what was he thinking? Kirishima is not that irrational. No! No! Pon shook his head rapidly. What would be Kirishima's next move?

Kirishima leant forward in his own chair, curling his fingers together and leaning his face on them. "We have to find Sora."

Mako and Pon exchanged a look. "And how are you planning to do that?" Mako finally asked. "His cell phone is switched off. He's currently MIA. How to you plan on finding him."

"We'll start with his home." Kirishima said, eyes narrowing as he looked at Pon and Mako. "We can find his home address from the school records at the administration office."

* * *

A/N: There… Not so late this time round. =X How was this chapter? I didn't mean to insert Sora into this fight but it really was necessary.

Regarding the Ebizuka Trio, there's a reason they're secondary characters in this movie. It's because they are among the major characters in Crows manga that occurs after Genji and gang graduated.

How's the fight scene above?


	8. Chapter 8

The administration office is located in a wing of the main school building, alongside a few classrooms that are actually open for students who want to study. It was easily distinguishable – being the wing that doesn't have broken windows or vandalized walls.

Sneaking into the administration office is not a hard task for the Ebizuka Trio. All the teachers leave for home at exactly 5pm. There wasn't much to teach in Suzuran and, God forbid, they don't try to discipline the students at all. The office was considered safe to be left unlocked. Suzuran students avoid the place like plague. No decent Suzuran would be caught dead there.

All of which made it easier for the Ebizuka Trio to break in.

"What's his surname again?" Kirishima asked as they rifled through the enrolment files.

"Asamori." Pon supplied. "Asamori Sora."

They continued their search in silence.

"There! I got it!" Pon raised a file in triumph.

"You sure this file is his?" Kirishima asked as Mako and he made their way to him.

"There is only one file with the name 'Asamori Sora' on it. Who else could it belong to?" Pon snorted. He opened the file and three heads bent over it. "The address is… here."

"Right…" Kirishima used his cell phone and took a picture of the address. "Let's go."

The next step in Operation Find Sora was slightly harder. The trio skipped school the next day and made their way there. The address had pointed to a location in Shinbashi, Minato-Ku. The trio looked up at the small Izakaya, proudly bearing the name of "Asamori Family restaurant".

"This is the place?" Kirishima turned to look at Pon suspiciously, who was in turn looking at his cell phone. Wasn't Sora some rich kid? And wasn't he half asian?

"According to the map, yeah." Pon looked up and nodded affirmatively. "It's here, no doubt about that."

Kirishima scowled, and hurried in, closely followed by Mako and Pon. A small bell tinkered at their entrance.

"Good Morning…" A woman called out cheerfully and emerged from a curtain-covered doorway at the corner of the restaurant. "Can I help you with anything?"

The woman's smile froze when she noticed their uniform. Kirishima paid that no heed. Suzuran students get that all the time. It is part of the deal one gets when in the infamous School of Crows.

"We're looking for Asamori Sora. Is he in?" Pon asked politely. They weren't some of the rowdier kids who acted all arrogant just because they were from Suzuran. Those are the wannabees. They're the real deal.

"Yes, he is. I'll get him for you." the woman went to and called upstairs. "Sora-kun! There're some people looking for you!"

The three of them exchanged looks with one another. He was home? How did he make it home? There was the sound of footsteps, and the curtain was pushed aside.

"Who the fuck are you?"

* * *

Her eyes were blurry when she opened them. She blinked rapidly to clear the blurriness and refocus them. The first thing she saw was a beige ceiling. Around her, there was the sound of something beeping.

"You're awake." Someone came into view. From her outfit, it was a nurse. "I'll get the doctor."

A nurse? A nurse? Shit! She was in a hospital!

She shot up in bed and then paused as pain exploded throughout her body. Her head felt as if tons of fireworks are setting off within her skull and the whole room swirled crazily.

"Please! You can't get up! Not yet!" The nurse anxiously tried to calm her down and push her back gently but firmly into bed. "Please relax!"

She acquiesced and leant back into bed but by no means was she going to relent. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. What? What the hell? What happened to her? Sora lifted a heavily bruised hand to her throat, frantically gesturing to the nurse. Why can't she speak?

"Please..! Relax!" The nurse said again, firmly but in a low voice. "I'll get the doctor who'll _explain_ everything to you… Everything's OK now."

_If everything's OK, I would have been able to speak!_ Sora thought sourly. Nonetheless, she stopped resisting and allowed the nurse to leave and get the doctor. The sooner the nurse gets the doctor here, the sooner she'll have her answers.

Sora took the opportunity to survey her surroundings. There were four beds in the large room that she was in but hers was the only one occupied. The room itself was an off white colour, more due to age than to colour scheme, and was not air conditioned. Ventilation was due to the slowly rotating fans located at the ceiling above each bed. Wires and pipes crisscrossed along the ceiling and the walls. The whole place was clean, but looked rundown.

She tried moving the different parts of her body and winced. They all hurt like mad. Judging by the bright sunlight outside the window, it should at least be afternoon. She wondered how long she has been asleep.

"Oh, you're up." The doctor, a female with long hair tied up in a casual ponytail, strode into the room. "How are you feeling?"

_Like Shit… _She thought. She patiently let the doctor check up on her. The doctor dragged a nearby chair and sat down, nodding thanks to the nurse for passing her a brown coloured file.

"You've suffered major trauma to your body. Organs – no internal damage, thank goodness, and no broken bones but damage to muscles aplenty, along with sprained wrists and ankles. Overall though, I'll say you're lucky; very, very lucky. I've treated people who had gotten off worst in fights before."

Sora gestured to her throat. And the doctor's smile dimmed.

"Yes, well. That is where your luck diminishes. You're suffering from Vocal Cord Paresis, caused by neck trauma." The doctor looked at Sora with sympathetic eyes. "You won't be able to speak for a long while, I'm afraid. And you may have swallowing or breathing difficulties. But don't worry." The doctor patted Sora's hands. "Your case isn't severe and it's highly likely the damage isn't permanent."

She hoped to dear God upstairs that what the doctor said is true. She looked down at her clothes. She was clad in hospital pyjamas. Who changed her? Whoever changed her would know that she was a cross dresser.

The Doctor's eyes gained a knowing look. "It was a female nurse who changed you. Yes, uh… We know about your cross dressing issue and rest assured we won't say anything. We're very good in keeping patient-doctor confidentiality. It's the reason why a lot of our patients chose to come back to us."

She'll maintain scepticism about that. Still, the damage's done. Sora gestured for a pen and paper.

"Where am I?" She wrote in large shaky hand writing. Jeez, her words resembled that of a nursery kid just learning to write.

"Ryushin Hospital."

"How did I end up here?" The last thing she had remembered was sneaking away from Suzuran. After that, everything was a blank.

The doctor hesitated. "Someone brought you in."

"Who?" Sora wrote.

"I'm not sure it's my place to say…" The Doctor got up, clearly indicating the end of discussion. "I'll check up on you later."

She waved the clipboard to get her attention and wrote frantically. The doctor narrowed her eyes when she read what Sora wrote. "No, I'm sorry. You'll get your phone back _once_ you get better and not any time before. You need to rest, not play games."

With that, the doctor and nurse left. Sora felt like throwing her clipboard after them in frustration. How was she going to contact her friends? Or worst, what will Solange do if she can't get a hold of her?

* * *

The young boy that emerged was gangly with wild shaggy hair held back with a hair band, revealing typical Japanese features.

He was definitely not Sora.

The boy in front of them turned white at the sight of them. The woman looked between them in askance. "Is something wrong?" She asked cautiously. "Aren't they your friends from school, Sora-kun?"

Kirishima stiffened at that. This guy is called Sora as well?

"Yeah, mum!" He said frantically. "T-They're my friends from school! We we're just going to hang out. See ya later!"

With that, he swung an arm around Pon and Mako and literally dragged them out of the restaurant. Kirishima followed, fuming in displeasure.

Pon couldn't have gotten the wrong person. They checked and there's really only one file. So there is no other Asamori Sora in the school. He hadn't seen this guy in their school before, despite his mother saying he's from Suzuran but his name is Asamori Sora too.

What the heck's going on?

The moment they exited the restaurant, they dragged the boy into a vacant alleyway and Mako slammed him hard against a building wall, pressing his forearm against his chest so as to restrain him. Pon and Kirishima stood on either side of him, the former cracking his fists menacingly.

"Oof!" The boy exhaled forcefully as his back made contact against the wall.

"We have questions and we want them answered honestly." Kirishima began in a soft but dangerous voice, brown eyes flashing almost viciously. "Is that clear?"

The boy nodded fearfully.

"Good. Where's our friend? And who are you really? Your mother called you Sora and said you're from _our_ school. But we've never seen you around school before."

"I dunno who you're talking about and I _am_ Sora. My full name is Asamori Sora, really!"

"Don't play dumb with us!" Pon threatened. "We know the real Asamori Sora in our school and he isn't you! And he's missing!"

The boy visibly gulped hard. "I really don't know about that… Maybe he's another person with the same name?"

Mako raised a fist but Kirishima beat him to it. He grabbed hold of him again and slammed him against the wall, before pulling him up with both hands to his eye level.

"Wrong answer, asshole. The address on our friend's record led us here. And from your expression just now, you knew something about it. OUT WITH IT!" Kirishima ended with a roar.

"All right! All right! I'm sorry!" The boy panicked. "Please don't hurt me!"

"Then answer us!" Kirishima growled. He was starting to have a strange feeling that his effeminate looking friend isn't all that he seems to be and Kirishima meant to find out the truth, starting with this guy.

"W-well… You see, a couple of months ago, I was at the arcade and this guy approached me with a deal. He'll get someone to take my place in high school. I'll get the diploma and 100,000 yen upfront."

_What?_ Kirishima could feel the similar vibes of shock sent off by his two friends. 100,000 yen isn't a small sum of money.

"I just have to provide him with my high school transcript papers and my identity card for him to complete the proceedings. All I have to is to go take a photo for my new admission."

"Take a photo?" Kirishima asked, perplexed.

The guy nodded frantically. "Yeah, he had me put on foundation to lighten my skin tone and wear uniforms and a scarf. Oh, and he did some other stuff to my face. I don't know what. I ain't a girl. But it's to make sure my photo looks like the body double he had in mind for me but not so much that it looks different from the photo in my identity card."

"Why is he doing this for you?" Pon asked suspiciously.

"Don't know. I never ask." The boy shrugged.

"You never bothered asking why he's doing all these?" Pon ask incredulously.

"100,000 yen! It was a sweet deal! You have any idea how much money that is to me? And I get the cert while still being able to help my mum out. When my siblings are older, I can get out of here with the money I saved and find a job somewhere else with the cert. It's a win-win situation for me. How was I to know that boy's gonna enrol in Suzuran? Well, better a Suzuran cert than no cert." The boy went off into a rant. "My dad died, and my mom can't handle running the shop together with looking after my siblings! So I had to quit high school to help her out but I really want to have at least a high school diploma. I can't go to night school either because my shop's open from morning till night. Then this guy just came along and he just need my papers. In return, I'll get the diploma and 100,000 yen upfront. Who in their right mind would reject him?"

Things are getting more and more confusing by the second. Kirishima wanted answers but he ended up with even more questions. He shook his head and opened his mouth but Mako beat him to it.

"Who is the guy who offered you the deal?" Mako asked.

"I don't know!" The boy waved his hands helplessly. "I didn't even get his number! He paid the cash up front and he said I will get the diploma later."

"Did he tell you a specific date?" Pon asked. It isn't much but this guy he mentioned is the only link to Sora (the Sora they know) right now. Maybe they could set a date to trap this guy.

The boy shook his head. "No… He just said he'll pass it to me upon completion."

Kirishima let go of him and the boy drop to the ground. He didn't even know what he is supposed to feel. They just exhausted their leads to find Sora, and they found out that their friend is hiding something he doesn't want them to know. He had a strange feeling Sora wasn't all that he seems and that knowing the real Sora may bring about more trouble than answers.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry for not updating for so long. The past few months had not been good at all. My father passed away, after just a month at the hospital. It was very sudden, and very painful for me. And then exams and settling of my father's affairs. And shit happened between me and my supposedly best friend (now ex-best). There's barely room to do anything else.

Anyway, the above chapter is unedited, as can be seen from the strange flow of the story. After receiving so many reviews, I feel guilty about not posting (Captain Juice! You're still following my story! I'm touched! =X). Regarding Sora... Did anybody expect the above curveball? But you guys must have some clue right? Sora has a Japanese mother (chp 1 & chp 3?). How could her surname be Japanese? =X

I will update again in roughly one month, after things have settled down some more. Still a lot of adjustments to be made in my life and in the home.

Lastly, feedback? How did this chapter go?


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